Cleveland Museum of Art

Lace Flounce

Date

1750s-1790s

Medium

Linen: bobbin lace (Punto di Milano)

Culture

Italy, Milan ?

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Being the most prestigious material, lace was used extensively by the 1600s for altar linen and for trimming priest’s albs, often incorporating finely rendered religious images amid blossoming vines. This alb flounce depicts scenes from the Old Testament story of Joseph, whose jealous brothers sold him to a caravan bound for Egypt. Joseph later interpreted dreams of the pharaoh, who made him ruler. When famine in Canaan caused Joseph’s ten brothers to travel to Egypt in search of food, they bowed down to him. After he revealed his identity, he forgave his brothers and God saved the family.

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