mceRnACioriAL
THE RESURRECTION. TRIPTYCH FIFTEENTH-CENTURY GOTHIC EMBROIDERY
MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERIES
rhe charm of old church p'leceS in the AdoLph ZiOewy applied with couching in
embroideries lies not collection show the care and scarIet thread' usuaIIY in a
, 7ly SUbrdUed artistry with which they fme Japer Pattern. The
splendor and technical per- £ L' J " metallic thread was too
fection, but also in their Were fashioned stubborn to be used in satin
reflection of the medieval cJESSIGA ]\f NORTH or so^d stitches, and too
viewpoint. He who gazes precious to waste on the
at them too long may find his twentieth-century back of the fabric. This obstacle the Chinese had
world unraveling about him, till he stands in long ago surmounted by winding linen threads
doublet and hose, a worshipper in some dim cathe- with gilded parchment in fme strips,
dral, and impressed almost as much with the Sometimes the gold was applied in tiny rings
priestly garments as with the glory of God. or piette to the linen. An altar-piece given by
Prompted by humility and the desire to render Isabella of Castile to the cathedral at Toledo in
worthy service, the makers of these masterpieces 1492 and now in the possession of Mr. Adolph
remained anonymous. They gave the most scru- Loewy of Venice is stuffed from the back to
pulous attention to every detail of their needle- resemble a stucco panel and stiffened with these
work. A God who marked the fall of the sparrows, little gold rings. In Mr. Loewy's collection which
they considered, would not be lenient toward a was recently exhibited at the Art Institute of
stitch taken awry in the vestments of his minister. Chicago a chasuble of Venetian red brocade has
Moreover all must be made as fme as possible a design of pomegranate and thistle in which the
according to the Mosaic precept, "with gold and gold thread is raised from the warp in little coils,
with blue and with scarlet and with purple and Symbolism is very evident in many church
with fme twined linen and curious work." For embroideries of the fourteenth, fifteenth and six-
the most part they limited themselves to the teenth centuries. The world was just emerging
Mosaic colors, but in more than one example from that mesh of pagan mystery in which it had
green, black and yellow have crept in. The gold Iain since Neolithic times. It is not strange that
was used as a background for the figures, and was much of the old religions was reflected in medieval
three sixty-two
AUGUST I925
THE RESURRECTION. TRIPTYCH FIFTEENTH-CENTURY GOTHIC EMBROIDERY
MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERIES
rhe charm of old church p'leceS in the AdoLph ZiOewy applied with couching in
embroideries lies not collection show the care and scarIet thread' usuaIIY in a
, 7ly SUbrdUed artistry with which they fme Japer Pattern. The
splendor and technical per- £ L' J " metallic thread was too
fection, but also in their Were fashioned stubborn to be used in satin
reflection of the medieval cJESSIGA ]\f NORTH or so^d stitches, and too
viewpoint. He who gazes precious to waste on the
at them too long may find his twentieth-century back of the fabric. This obstacle the Chinese had
world unraveling about him, till he stands in long ago surmounted by winding linen threads
doublet and hose, a worshipper in some dim cathe- with gilded parchment in fme strips,
dral, and impressed almost as much with the Sometimes the gold was applied in tiny rings
priestly garments as with the glory of God. or piette to the linen. An altar-piece given by
Prompted by humility and the desire to render Isabella of Castile to the cathedral at Toledo in
worthy service, the makers of these masterpieces 1492 and now in the possession of Mr. Adolph
remained anonymous. They gave the most scru- Loewy of Venice is stuffed from the back to
pulous attention to every detail of their needle- resemble a stucco panel and stiffened with these
work. A God who marked the fall of the sparrows, little gold rings. In Mr. Loewy's collection which
they considered, would not be lenient toward a was recently exhibited at the Art Institute of
stitch taken awry in the vestments of his minister. Chicago a chasuble of Venetian red brocade has
Moreover all must be made as fme as possible a design of pomegranate and thistle in which the
according to the Mosaic precept, "with gold and gold thread is raised from the warp in little coils,
with blue and with scarlet and with purple and Symbolism is very evident in many church
with fme twined linen and curious work." For embroideries of the fourteenth, fifteenth and six-
the most part they limited themselves to the teenth centuries. The world was just emerging
Mosaic colors, but in more than one example from that mesh of pagan mystery in which it had
green, black and yellow have crept in. The gold Iain since Neolithic times. It is not strange that
was used as a background for the figures, and was much of the old religions was reflected in medieval
three sixty-two
AUGUST I925