DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32044#0056
stands ; in others the dove stood in the middle of an enamelled diih, hav-
ing small perforated projedtions to receive the cord.
Another very early form for this veisel was that of a round box with
a conical top terminated with a cross ; an example of which is given in
the “ Dreises and Decorations of the Middle Ages,” by the author of
the present work.
They were sometimes made in the form of a Turret, and various ma-
terials were employed in their construition.
In Lincoln Cathedral, before the reformation, there was a Pyx of
Cryital, having a footof iilver and gilt, with an image of the Virgin on the
top ; and another of ivory bound above and beneath with iilver and gilt,
having a square steeple on the top, a ring and a rose, with a scutcheon
on the bottom, and within a case of cloth of gold with 31. ìj). on every
iide set with pearls. In York Minster was one of Beryl, adorned with
silver gilt in the manner of a cup, with a cross on the top of the cover.
St. Paul’s had a painted Pyx; and the chapel of St. Radegunde two of
wood for the altar breads.
Our wood-cut represents the embroidery round the lower part of an
Alb on the effigy of a priest, under the south porch of the cathedral at
Chartres. An Alb is a vestment worn by the priest at the euchariilic
sacrifice, and from the earliest times had nearly the same form as those
in use at present. It was generally of fine white linen, though sometimes
of rich silk, and ornamented with a peculiar round decoration of gold,
which has long ceased to be used in any country ; but, whether of one
or other of these fiuffs, it was almofi always hemmed at the bottom with
a brightly tinted silken, or golden border. Among the several regal gifts
made to St. Peters by our Anglo Saxon King Æthelwolf, when he took
his renowned son Alfred, to Rome, a. d. 855, were silken Albs richly
ornamented with gold ; Camisias albas sigillatas holosericas cum chry-
soclavo. (Liber Pontificalis in vita Benedióti III. t. iii. p. 168, ed. Vig-
nolio.)
But if under the Saxons, a fiuss so very costly, and so rare as silk must
have been in their times, was often bestowed upon the Alb, this vefiure,
infiead of losing, gained new splendour in the hands of the Engliih at a
later period ; while linen of the finest quality continued to be, as now,
the material of which it was always made for common use,—on great
occasions and in the larger churches, it was to be seen formed, not only
entirely of silk, but sometimes even of velvet and cloth of gold. But this
was not all, for though white was, of course, its usual colour, yet we find
a green, or blue, or red, or black alb to have been occasionally worn, and
albs were not called by the name of one or the other of these dies, be-
cause their apparel was of that colour, but because they were tinted
throughout, red, blue, or green, as the case might be. As will readily
be supposed, these rich albs, of silk, or cloth of gold, were brought forth
and used upon the higher festivals and more solemn fundtions only.
Our specimen seems to represent embroidery with pearls, and jewels,
set in a band of thin gold, and terminating with a fringe. The trian-
gular interlacings in the lower panels are evidently symbolical of the
holy trinity.
ing small perforated projedtions to receive the cord.
Another very early form for this veisel was that of a round box with
a conical top terminated with a cross ; an example of which is given in
the “ Dreises and Decorations of the Middle Ages,” by the author of
the present work.
They were sometimes made in the form of a Turret, and various ma-
terials were employed in their construition.
In Lincoln Cathedral, before the reformation, there was a Pyx of
Cryital, having a footof iilver and gilt, with an image of the Virgin on the
top ; and another of ivory bound above and beneath with iilver and gilt,
having a square steeple on the top, a ring and a rose, with a scutcheon
on the bottom, and within a case of cloth of gold with 31. ìj). on every
iide set with pearls. In York Minster was one of Beryl, adorned with
silver gilt in the manner of a cup, with a cross on the top of the cover.
St. Paul’s had a painted Pyx; and the chapel of St. Radegunde two of
wood for the altar breads.
Our wood-cut represents the embroidery round the lower part of an
Alb on the effigy of a priest, under the south porch of the cathedral at
Chartres. An Alb is a vestment worn by the priest at the euchariilic
sacrifice, and from the earliest times had nearly the same form as those
in use at present. It was generally of fine white linen, though sometimes
of rich silk, and ornamented with a peculiar round decoration of gold,
which has long ceased to be used in any country ; but, whether of one
or other of these fiuffs, it was almofi always hemmed at the bottom with
a brightly tinted silken, or golden border. Among the several regal gifts
made to St. Peters by our Anglo Saxon King Æthelwolf, when he took
his renowned son Alfred, to Rome, a. d. 855, were silken Albs richly
ornamented with gold ; Camisias albas sigillatas holosericas cum chry-
soclavo. (Liber Pontificalis in vita Benedióti III. t. iii. p. 168, ed. Vig-
nolio.)
But if under the Saxons, a fiuss so very costly, and so rare as silk must
have been in their times, was often bestowed upon the Alb, this vefiure,
infiead of losing, gained new splendour in the hands of the Engliih at a
later period ; while linen of the finest quality continued to be, as now,
the material of which it was always made for common use,—on great
occasions and in the larger churches, it was to be seen formed, not only
entirely of silk, but sometimes even of velvet and cloth of gold. But this
was not all, for though white was, of course, its usual colour, yet we find
a green, or blue, or red, or black alb to have been occasionally worn, and
albs were not called by the name of one or the other of these dies, be-
cause their apparel was of that colour, but because they were tinted
throughout, red, blue, or green, as the case might be. As will readily
be supposed, these rich albs, of silk, or cloth of gold, were brought forth
and used upon the higher festivals and more solemn fundtions only.
Our specimen seems to represent embroidery with pearls, and jewels,
set in a band of thin gold, and terminating with a fringe. The trian-
gular interlacings in the lower panels are evidently symbolical of the
holy trinity.