This week, we continue our exploration of late medieval goldwork embroidery from the Netherlands. I made an exciting discovery on a cope kept at the Dommmuseum Frankfurt in Germany. The Dutch dalmatics I showed you last week ended up in a museum collection in Italy after they were bought at Read more
If you have followed this blog for a while, you already know that medieval goldwork embroidery was mass-produced. The designs were used more than once, sometimes even on the same vestment. Survived have mainly the simpler single-figure orphreys or the, possibly block-printed, naive embroidered scenes from Germany. But that’s not Read more
When I started work on this week’s stitch tutorial, I had the growing feeling that things weren’t quite what they seemed at first. That’s the great thing about doing research. I usually have no idea where the medieval embroideries will lead me. Dead ends are common. But so are those Read more
Not sure how many of you studied last week’s pictures of the Schlosser set of vestments, focusing on the embroidery techniques used. If you did, you might have spotted the same oddities as I did. For starters, there’s the ‘enhancement’ of the faces with oil paint. Not an unusual practice. The Read more
One of the highlights of my museum tour at the end of November last year was the Dommuseum Frankfurt. It has nine medieval embroidered vestments on permanent display. Well worth a visit! At the beginning of the year, I showed you a green chasuble with embroideries from the mid-14th century and the second Read more
We will start the new year with an interesting chasuble I encountered at the Dommuseum Frankfurt. The chasuble features embroidery from Cologne dating to the mid-14th and the second quarter of the 15th century. The museum, housed in the historical cloisters, is well worth a visit. Many medieval vestments are on Read more