Cleveland Museum of Art

Embroidered Sleeve from a Dalmatic

Date

1500–1525

Medium

Silk, gold and silver thread; velvet, embroidery: or nué (shaded gold), split, satin, and couching stitches

Culture

Italy, Florence, 16th century

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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