Embroidered Sleeve from a Dalmatic
Unknown Artist
1500–1525
Medium
Silk, gold and silver thread; velvet, embroidery: or nué (shaded gold), split, satin, and couching stitches
Dimensions
55.7 × 56.3 cm · mounted: 66 × 66.7 cm
Classification
Textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1998.51
About this artwork
This sleeve belonged to an ecclesiastical garment called a dalmatic. Gold and silver thread form overlapping lattices with crowns on crimson velvet. In the scene, Christ washes the feet of Peter, who is accompanied by other apostles. Gold thread dominates, in the shaded-gold technique (or nué), its brilliance varying based on the density of the silk thread crossing over it. The resulting high quality could only have been achieved by a master embroiderer working from a good painter’s design.