This chasuble, a Western church vestment worn by bishops and priests during Mass, is made from red velvet patterned with staggered rows of gold disks and is a prime example of cultural exchange between the Middle East and the West. It is one of about 30 surviving pieces with this pattern, most of which are fragments. Papal and Italian church inventories establish that such fabrics were woven in the late 13th and 14th centuries. Long associated with Spain or Italy, this fabric has more recently been attributed to the eastern Islamic world, specifically Tabriz in northwestern Iran. The attribution is based on technical characteristics, inventory descriptions, and Tabriz’s fame as a center for luxury textiles.
Date
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Gift of Martin A. Ryerson through the Antiquarian Society
Reference Number
1911.202
IIIF Manifest
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Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago, vol. VI, no. 1 (July 1912), 11 (ill.).
Christa C. Mayer Thurman, Raiment for the Lord’s Service: A Thousand Years of Western Vestments (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), 130, no. 44 (ill.).
John W. Keefe, The Antiquarian Society of The Art Institute of Chicago, The First One Hundred Years (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1977), 191, cat. 251 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Raiment for the Lord’s Service: A Thousand Years of Western Vestments, Nov. 15, 1975–Jan. 18, 1976.
Art Institute of Chicago, The Antiquarian Society of The Art Institute of Chicago: The First One Hundred Years, Apr. 23–June 19, 1977.
Art Institute of Chicago, Agnes Allerton Gallery, Sumptuous Velvets from the Permanent Collection, March 1–Sept. 28, 1980.
Art Institute of Chicago, Agnes Allerton Gallery, Vestments and Liturgical Textiles from the Permanent Collection, July 27–Oct. 9, 1983.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gunsaulus Hall, Opening Exhibition, Sept. 6, 1988-Apr. 10, 1989.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gunsaulus Hall, European Textile Masterpieces from Coptic Times through the 19th Century (in conjunction with), Sept. 27, 1989–Jan. 22, 1990.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gunsaulus Hall, Rotation, May 2, 1990-July 26, 1990.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, A Birthday Celebration: 100 Years of Antiquarian Society Textile Collecting 1890–1990 (in conjunction with), Sept. 11, 1991–Feb. 19, 1992.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gunsaulus Hall, Rotation, Nov. 3, 1993-Feb. 23, 1994.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Gloria in Excelsis Deo: Heralding a Vestment Collection, Sept. 11, 1996–Jan. 12, 1997.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gunsaulus Hall, Rotation, Aug. 20, 1998-Dec. 30, 1998.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gunsaulus Hall, Rotation, Oct. 27, 2000-Feb. 16, 2001.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gunsaulus Hall, Gallery 140, Rotation, Nov. 6, 2002-Apr. 18, 2003.
Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 50A, Islamic Galleries, Asian Art Department, Nov. 14, 2014- Feb. 27, 2015.
Martin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1911.
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