Chasuble Front with Orphrey Cross

Textiles

Chasuble: 15th century; Orphrey Cross: 1401/50

Chasuble: Florence, Italy
Orphrey Cross: Bohemia or Germany

Although this chasuble (a priest’s outer garment) is incomplete, its richly embroidered cross, known as an orphrey, remains intact. It features five saints, with Saint George and the slain dragon at center, and was probably used in Bohemia or Germany, where the embroidery was done. The combination of sumptuous velvet and embroidery is typical of 15th-century religious attire. These luxurious velvets were exported from the Italian peninsula to other European countries, as well as to the Ottoman Empire.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Title: Chasuble Front with Orphrey Cross
Place: Florence (Object made in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1401–1500
Medium: Chasuble: silk and metal-wrapped thread, brocaded silk velvet with two heights of silk pile, and metal-wrapped threat boucle. Orphrey Cross: silk and metal-wrapped thread, embroidered in flat and padded couching stitches and split stitches on linen plain weave foundation.
Dimensions: Chasuble: 126.6 × 70.5 cm (49 7/8 × 27 3/4 in.); Orphrey Cross: 112 × 57.7 cm (44 × 22 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Grace R. Smith Textile Endowment
Reference Number: 1980.615
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/60819/manifest.json

Christie’s South Kensington, “Sale of Uniforms, Militaria, Fans, Textiles, Embroidery and Costume, sales cat (Thursday, November 18, 1976), 12, no. 142 (ill.).
Christa C. Mayer Thurman, “Some Major Textile Acquisitions from Europe and Egypt,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 11, no. 1 (Fall 1984): 54, 57, fig. 4 (ill.).
Christa C. Mayer Thurman, Textiles in The Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1992), 26-7, 143 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, “Devotion & Splendor: Medieval Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 30, no. 2 (Art Institute of Chicago, 2004), 78, cat. 53 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Agnes Allerton Gallery, Selected Textile Acquisitions Since 1978, July 10–Oct. 10, 1982.
Art Institute of Chicago, Agnes Allerton Gallery, Vestments and Liturgical Textiles from the Permanent Collection, July 27–Oct. 9, 1983.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, European Textile Masterpieces from Coptic Times through the 19th Century, Sept. 27, 1989–Jan. 22, 1990.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Textile Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago’s Collection,
Feb. 17–May 2, 1993.
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, Alsdorf Gallery, Sept. 30, 1998– Feb. 10, 1999.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Renaissance Velvets and Silks, Dec. 18, 2002–Apr. 13, 2003.
Art Institute of Chicago, Deering Family Galleries, Sept. 28, 2018-May 22, 2019.

Orphry Cross: sold, Christie’s, South Kensingon, Nov. 18, 1976 [lot 142]. Unknown dealer, London [this and the following according to object information from Loewi-Robertson, 1989; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Loewi-Robertson, Inc., Los Angeles, Feb. 20, 1980 [invoice, inventory no. 16504; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1980.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Currently Off View

Status

Department

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

Currently Off View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.