Literature research on the Opus florentinum embroideries shown in last week’s blog post led to another related piece of gorgeous medieval embroidery. According to the reference, the designs on last week’s chasuble were related to those seen on an antependium now kept at Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. Luckily Read more
Last week, we looked at a piece of medieval embroidery from the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo di Pisa in Italy. The cope known as the Gelasius II cope exhibits embroidery from the first half of the 14th century and an orphrey from the first half of the 15th century. As Read more
Let’s trace changes in embroidery techniques from the 14th to the 16th century by examining a popular biblical story. The scene of Noli me tangere (touch me not), in which Mary Magdalene visits the grave and finds it empty, is one of my favourite biblical scenes rendered in medieval embroidery. Read more
Today’s embroidery tutorial was inspired by the tablecloth of the Last Supper in a 14th-century Italian embroidery. By couching down a pair of twisted cream silk threads with a thin, untwisted cream silk thread, it looks as if the tablecloth is made of damask. This is a clever way to Read more
In my current exploration of Opus florentinum goldwork embroidery, I came across an orphrey fragment that puzzles me. Firstly, what does it depict? Is this the Lamentation of Christ as the museum caption suggests? Or is this the Entombment of Christ? And why is the embroidery executed the way it Read more
Opus florentinum is a style of embroidery that is characterised by the use of split stitch and surface couched gold thread. It flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries, and its products could and can be found in church treasuries all over Europe. Just like Opus anglicanum, Opus florentinum has Read more