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Medieval Splendour in gold thread and silk
The Acupictrix, alias Dr Jessica Grimm, writes a weekly blog on medieval goldwork embroidery and related topics.
Dr Jessica Grimm is a member of Centre International d’Etude des Textiles Ancienes (CIETA), Bundesverband Kunsthandwerk, MEDATS and S.E.W.
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Pearl-embroidered mitre of Sainte-Chapelle, Paris (France)
Last week, we looked at the pearl-embroidered mitre of St Isidoro, which dates to the second quarter of the 14th-century. Today’s pearl-embroidered mitre is slightly younger and dates to the last quarter of the 14th-century and was likely made in Paris. It was once housed in Sainte-Chapelle, the… Read More
Pearl-embroidered mitre of Saint Isidoro, Bologna (Italy)
The Saint Stefano church, one of the churches of the seven-churches complex in Bologna, houses a spectacular pearl-embroidered mitre from the second quarter of the 14th century. The iconography is not your average Christian fare with dragons, birds, and lion masks amidst foliage. It is, in fact, so… Read More
Aosta Cathedral, Italy: A 15th century embroidered chasuble
By now, you probably know that chasing embroidered medieval vestments is kinda my thing :). Although I am fortunate enough to be able to travel regularly, a lot of my research happens behind a computer screen. Trailing through publications, especially the literature references, is how I find new-to-me… Read More
Opus anglicanum: St Nicholas Dalmatic
A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to finally visit the Cathedral Treasury of Anagni near Rome, Italy. The treasury houses several pieces of Opus anglicanum, not only the namesake cope. One of these pieces is the chasuble, which you can see below. However, this vestment… Read More
Tutorial: Diaper Pattern Couching
When I demonstrate diaper pattern couching, people always ask if I have the complete pattern in my head somehow as there is nothing drawn or printed on the fabric. And even with my explanation, people don’t always fully understand how it is done. Not even embroiderers familiar with… Read More
Late Medieval Embroidery Guilds in the Low Countries
In the 80s, we had an art historian in the Netherlands who started to systematically trawl through historical records to find late medieval and early modern embroiderers and embroidery guilds. She published a couple of great articles on the topic. However, the large overview publication she promised in… Read More