Vestment fragment with stars in staggered squares

About this artwork

Alternating rows of two different forms of interlacing stars set within square frames convey a jewel-like brilliance with gold and contrasting colors. This fragment was reused in an ecclesiastical vestment that made its way to the cathedral at Lleida in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain. A document dated 1275 records that the Bishop of Lleida and his companions brought “[A] complete set of vestments, of Muslim manufacture, which ornaments they dedicated to San Valero.”