Last week, I probably located a beautiful late medieval goldwork embroidery cope in the Dommuseum Frankfurt to its original church in the Netherlands. This week, I will introduce you to a stunning chasuble cross in the Diocesan Museum Osnabrück, Germany. This is one of these pieces of high-end late medieval goldwork embroidery that not many people know about. The chasuble cross was once part of a vestment at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Osnabrück. It was made in the Northern Netherlands between AD 1510 and AD 1520. And I think I can deduce who ordered its production.

The scenes depicted on the late medieval goldwork embroidery cross are (from the top): Refusal of Saint Joachim’s offering at the temple, Revelation of Saint Joachim, and Saint Anne & Saint Joachim meeting at the Golden Gate. Saints Joachim and Anne are Mary’s parents. Their fertility problems were seen as divine punishment. For this reason, the priests refused Joachim’s offering at the temple. He decided to go into the desert to fast and pray. An angel appeared to assure him of a child being born to him and Anne. He returns to Jerusalem and meets his wife Anne at the city gate.

The medieval goldwork embroidery on this Dutch chasuble cross is very characteristic. The scenes are placed under elaborate architecture made of padded goldwork. The inside of the buildings shows a red diaper pattern (a filled basket weave). The figures are rendered in silk embroidery embellished with passing thread and twist, and a limited amount of or nué. The detail in the small faces is staggering. The orphreys are surrounded by a string-padded frame sporting a basket-weave chevron pattern. Who was able to afford such a high-end piece of late medieval goldwork embroidery?

Luckily for us, the patron of this medieval goldwork embroidery has left us a prominent clue. Working or nué or high-end silk shading requires about the same amount of skill, in my experience. However, the extra use of the gold thread in or nué makes this the more expensive option. When it is used sparingly, as it is in this particular chasuble cross, it always emphasises something. In this case, only Saint Joachim wears clothing made in this technique. Not even his wife is awarded a bit of or nué. This means that the main character is Saint Joachim. Not his wife Anne, nor his daughter Mary.

So, who was Saint Joachim? He was the patron saint of fathers, grandfathers, grandparents, married couples, cabinet makers and linen traders. The latter is important. Osnabrück and the surrounding area were famous for their linen production and trade. The city had a Leinenlegge where the linen was being assayed and stamped. The hard-wearing, coarse linen was traded far and wide since the Middle Ages. Centuries later, this early form of denim clothed the slaves in the Caribbean.

This leads me to believe that the wealthy guild or the brotherhood of the linen merchants had a beautiful vestment made for their chapel in the Osnabrück Cathedral of St. Peter.

Literature
Hohls, H., 1926. Leinwandhandel in Norddeutschland vom Mittelalter bis zum 17. Jahrhundert, Hansische Geschichtsblätter 31, 116–158.