I hope you haven't missed my blogs too much! For the past two weeks, I've been on holiday in Italy with my husband, and we took my Patrons virtually with us! We started in Bologna, were nearly drowned in Ravenna, journeyed on to Neapels and ended in Rome. And apart from spending a whopping four days in Pompeii and a whole day in Herculaneum, we did seek out medieval goldwork embroidery! Some of you might know that most Opus anglicanum pieces have actually not survived in England. Especially Italy houses several spectacular pieces. Other medieval goldwork embroidery seems to be more sparse. And this is due to the fact that these pieces are often still owned, and sometimes used!, by their respective churches. But it is well worth a try to check out every church museum or medieval museum you come across. Most stuff will be from the 17th century upwards as there's just much more preserved from that younger time period. But every so often, you will come across little gems you probably did not know existed.

The chasuble of Bishop Giovanni Angelopte exhibited in the Museo Arcivescovile in Ravenna, Italy, is one of these gems. When you want to see the famous 5th-7th century mosaics for which Ravenna is known, entry to this church museum is included in your ticket. It is only a small museum, and the chasuble is displayed in one of the last rooms. The chasuble is named after a 5th-century bishop of Ravenna. However, the chasuble dates to the second half of the 12th century and was made in Sicily.

The dark blue brocatelle fabric is powdered with gold embroidered eagles and moons. The very fine goldwork embroidery is executed with a single gold thread. Probably in surface couching with a red silken couching thread. Different couching patterns seem to have been used to distinguish the different parts of the eagle (I think I see a brick stitch and a slanted line). The outline is stitched with a thicker red silk, probably in stem stitch. Additional details like the eye have been added in black silk on top of the gold work.

The production of this chasuble falls within the dates of when the Normans ruled the island. This means that this piece was likely made in the Royal Workshops, or Nobiles Officinae, in Palermo. Another famous piece from this multi-ethnic workshop, where Arab embroiderers worked side by side with Greek weavers, is the Mantle of Roger II and other pieces now kept in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna, Austria.

When you are familiar with Opus anglicanum, you might have spotted the perfect opportunity in my itinerary. Indeed. The Bologna cope, made shortly before AD 1304, is kept in the Museo Civico Medievale in Bologna. When you plan to visit, check their opening times, as these are pretty irregular. The cope is displayed in a small room on the ground floor. Ask one of the elderly men on guard duty by showing them a picture on your phone. They might even switch the additional lighting on for you. They are very proud of the piece and enjoy seeing visitors from all over the world study it. You can take as many pictures as you want as long as you don't use flash.

True Opus-nerds will have spotted another great opportunity for studying Opus in the wild: Rome. Not only does the Vatican have two of these beauties (more on that below), but Anagni Cathedral has a whole room full of the stuff. The most famous is the Anagni cope, which was made in the last quarter of the 13th century. Anagni used to be an important town where four medieval popes were born. It was the summer residence of the popes in the 12th and 13th centuries. Nowadays, it is a beautiful medieval Italian small town sitting in the hills southeast of Rome.

Getting to Anagni from Rome is pretty simple when you know how :). So here it comes: if you are brave enough to tackle Italian traffic, you can rent a car. For all others: go by public transport. You can buy a return ticket to Anagni Citta at the Trenitalia vending machines at Roma Termini train station (it is €10,20 for a return ticket). Just pick a return time when you buy your ticket. You do not need to stick to it. This ticket is for both the train to Anagni-Fiuggi station and the 20-minute bus ride from the station to the historical centre in the hills. The bus stands in front of the station building. Download the Omio app to see the train and bus times. These are reliable but irregular. Italian bus stops do not display timetables. Use Google Maps to see where the bus stops are. They are not always opposite of where you were let off the bus when you came. The journey takes about 1 hour and 41 minutes.

The other thing you'll need to do is to book your museum visit. Anagni Cathedral has a painted crypt that is known as the Medieval Sixtine Chapel. It is gorgeous. And it is far more famous than the outstanding medieval embroidery kept in the Cathedral Treasury. The website is completely in Italian. The museum will review your booking request, and you will receive a confirmation by email (in Italian, of course!). Once at the museum, you are allowed to take as many pictures as you want as long as you don't use flash. The room has a timed light switch, so it pays to have a 'helper' with you.

And last but not least, there's the Vatican cope housed in the Vatican. There's also the Lateran cope, which is part of the Vatican Library collection. However, I have no idea if that one is on display or how to get into the library. If anyone knows, please comment on this blog post. The Vatican Cope is displayed in the Vatican Museums. Make sure you have an online ticket that allows you to jump the line. It is worth paying the extra money to avoid the immense queues that people spend hours in. Turn up at the online jump-the-line ticket entry at the time slot you booked, and you will be in the museum within minutes. Then, the frustration begins. Make sure you visit the other 'loose' parts of the Vatican Museums before you join the masses to visit the Sixtine Chapel. Once in this visitor loop, you are not allowed to turn around. Unfortunately for us, the Vatican cope is displayed at the end of the museum visitor route. It is past the Sixtine Chapel and past the bookstores at the end of the part that is called the Museo Cristiano. Even when you push on as much as you can and don't look at anything on your way to the cope, not even the Sixtine Chapel, it will take you about an hour to get there.

The cope is displayed slightly tilted under horrible glass and ditto lighting. There is no caption. Although this is the only vestment on display in all of the Vatican Museums, it was apparently not worthy of a caption. People hurry by and don't really notice this outstanding piece of embroidery. What a shame! The good thing is you can take as many pictures as you like as long as you don't use flash. As the embroidery is so fine and the glare of the glass is so annoying, place your phone gently on the glass of the display case and use the enlarge function of your camera. Again: no flash and no additional light! You'll be amazed at all the details and embroidery techniques you will discover this way.

I hope you liked this summary of my travels in Italy. This will be the basis of future blog posts on the many splendid pieces I saw. But first, I will need to sort my hundreds of pictures. And try to find literature on the more obscure pieces I saw. Many happy hours of research and study await!

Last week, I discussed some Opus anglicanum pieces that show underside couched silk worked in a brick pattern. I wondered what the benefits were of using underside couching instead of traditional brick stitch. As I had done underside couching with a metal thread before, I imagined that underside couching with silk would be equally slow and cumbersome. I was very wrong. Underside couching with silk is a lovely technique! I hope you will give it a try, as it would be an excellent addition to your toolbox. The tutorial on this blog consists of the design drawing and a video where I work on parts of the design. My Journeyman and Master Patrons will find a downloadable PDF with the design drawing, additional pictures and instructions on my Patreon website.

While researching the grave finds of some of these bishops and kings, I also came across other small embroidered pieces that piqued my curiosity. When we think of Opus anglicanum, we think of underside couched gold threads. However, the embroiderers also underside couched silk. The most famous example is the Syon cope. The background consists entirely of underside couched green and red silk. I always thought that the Syon cope was somewhat of an oddity. And it is in terms of Opus anglicanum copes. However, other pieces of embroidery show underside couched silk, too. Let's have a look.

Here you see the Syon cope (made AD 1310-1320, England) in its natural museum habitat. It is displayed in front of the equally stunning Hildesheim cope made in Germany in AD 1310-1320. I never entirely understand why the Victoria & Albert Museum points out to visitors: "Compared with known examples of contemporary Opus Anglicanum, this German work is rather naive and not as finely executed." Really? I beg to differ. But that's the topic of another blog post. Back to the underside couched silk!

Here, you see one of the central scenes on the back of the Syon cope: the Coronation of the Virgin. The red and green backgrounds of the scenes are filled with underside couched silk in a chevron pattern. And see the stripiness of the colour of the silk? That proves that different dye lots were used to stitch the cope. Maybe it was not apparent at the time of stitching. However, the different dye lots certainly reacted differently to light exposure over time.

As said, the underside couched silk on the Syon cope is a bit of an oddity. As far as I am aware, only a few smaller pieces of embroidery show underside couching in silk. So far, I have come across two amice apparels, an alb apparel, a stole, two seal-bags and an embroidered fragment. The oldest pieces date to the second half of the 12th century (vestments said to have belonged to Thomas Becket), and the youngest piece is the Syon cope itself, dating to the first quarter of the 14th century. The technique has also been in use for about 150 years.

But why would you underside couch silk? Look closely at the picture of the seal-bag. What does underside couched silk on the grain of the embroidery fabric remind you of? Indeed: brick stitch. Why did the embroiderers opt for underside couching instead of brick stitch? To save on silk thread? When another couching pattern, such as the chevron pattern on the Syon cope, is used, I can understand why you use underside couching. However, you could also use brick stitch for a chevron pattern (think Bargello). And when you go off the grid to fill design elements, underside couching is a good option too. But remember the 'inferior' Hildesheim cope? That one is stitched entirely in brick stitch variations. So why would embroiderers on the Continent opt for brick stitch and those on the British Isles for underside couching? What's the difference? Let's explore that next week with a tutorial!

Literature
Browne, C., Davies, G., Michael, M.A. (Eds.), 2016. English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum. Yale University Press, New Haven.

Before I show you three more sets of beautifully embroidered pontifical socks, I can finally give you the link for the TV appearance. It aired last Friday. The MDR crew did a good job, and I feel that we all expressed ourselves really well in terms of why we stitch and the benefits of stitching. I really hope that the Museum Domschatz Halberstadt profits from the exposure. So far, I can't see an uptake in my website's traffic. And now, on to the stitched socks! Last week, we looked at three pairs of stockings from two kings and a bishop. The oldest pair dated to the 11th century, and the other two were from the late 12th century. This week, we will look at the grave finds of three bishops who lived in the 13th century.

First up are the textile remains of Bishop Beringer von Entringen (died AD 1232). He was bishop of Speyer from AD 1224 until his death. The stockings are covered with a regular geometric flower design stitched in underside couching. The embroidery fabric consists of samite. Unfortunately, the original colour is difficult to establish. The underside couched silver gilt threads (single) are packed in tightly to 30-35 threads per cm. Researchers believe that these stockings were embroidered in England around AD 1200. They are thus a typical piece of Opus anglicanum embroidery.

Due to the 18th and 19th century habit of dividing up archaeological finds between several enthusiastic collectors, the remains of the socks of bishop Walter de Cantilupe of Worcester can now be found in three museums. Bishop Walter was buried in Worcester Cathedral, which holds some of the remains. Furthermore, pieces are held in the British Museum and in the Victoria & Albert Museum. As the finds are divided up between three museums, their original form has not been reconstructed. It is also not helpful that the remnants of the corresponding sandals are not clearly separated from those of the stockings (I believe that the pictures shown in the British Museum link are part of the sandals).

The stockings are covered with a design of standing and seated kings with sceptres amongst elaborate scroll-work. The embroidery is executed with a silver-gilt thread on silk twill. As you can see from the above picture, the embroidery consists of underside couching. You are actually looking at the back of the embroidery. The linen couching thread has completely deteriorated. The only thing left is the gold thread that has been pulled in tiny loops through the silk twill. Only the silk twill is holding the gold thread. The stockings were made in England between AD 1220 and 1250.

The last pair of stockings come from the grave of Bishop Pierre de Charny of Sens in Sens Cathedral. The design on the stockings consists of griffons and leopards set in elaborate scroll-work. The embroidery is executed on silk twill with a silver-gilt thread in underside couching. His stockings were probably already a little older when he wore them for burial. They were made in the early 13th century in England.

Just as we saw last week with the first three stockings, the embroidery is of a non-religious nature. Geometric designs or elaborate scroll work with animals or human figures are popular. The embroidery is also executed directly onto a thick silken fabric. And these last three stockings all show the underside couching technique as seen in Opus anglicanum. I wonder if there were embroidery workshops that specialised in making these all-over embroidered stockings. Did they cater to royalty and bishops alike? Or perhaps also the higher nobility (the ranks just below the king)? Where these patterns found on other embroidered textiles too? Perhaps as borders on a mantle? The fact that the stockings survived under exceptional circumstances in these graves does not mean that they were the only pieces decorated in this way. Maybe they show us a glimpse of what other embroidered textiles of the times looked like!

My Journeyman and Master Patrons will find a PDF of an 1893 publication of the opening of the grave of bishop Hubert Walter of Canterbury for download on my Patreon site. The publication contains full-sized colour photographs of the embroidered stockings and shoes, as well as other textiles found in the grave.

Literature
Browne, C., Davies, G., Michael, M.A. (Eds.), 2016. English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Christie, A.G., 1938. English Medieval Embroidery: A brief survey of English Embroidery dating from the beginning of the tenth century until the end of the fourteenth. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Päffgen, B., 2010. Die Speyerer Bischofsgräber und ihre vergleichende Einordnung: Eine archäologische Studie zu Bischofsgräbern in Deutschland von den frühchristlichen Anfängen bis zum Ende des Ancien Regime. Studia archaeologiae medii aevi 1. Likias, Friedberg.

When I was updating the course contents of my Medieval Embroidery Course, I came across beautifully embroidered ceremonial stockings. The use of these stockings ended after the Second Vatican Council in 1962.  Bishops, but also some male nobility, were laid to rest in them. They are often the best-preserved part of the funeral clothing due to the way the body decomposes. I came under the impression that these stockings (also called buskins or caligae) are somewhat uniform when it comes to the embroidered decoration and the goldwork technique used. But is this true? And if so, what could that mean? Let's have a look at the Bishop's socks!

So far, I have come across the socks of six important medieval men. Some were laid to rest in England, others in Germany or France. We will look at all of them in chronological order of their deaths. First up are the socks of King William II of Sicily (AD 1153-1189). William was of the Norman house of Hauteville and married Joan of England (AD 1165-1199), a daughter of Henry II. His beautiful cochineal-red samite socks with goldwork embroidery were made for him in the Royal Workshops of Palermo, Sicily. We know this through the Arabic dedication on the tapestry bands attached at the tops.

The embroidery is very special (Seipel 2004, 272-274). The design consists of interlocking quatrefoils. In the middle of each sits an identical motive. It is interpreted as being a simple four-lobed flower or small star. The socks are all-over embroidered with this design, leaving out only the heel and the foot (this is probably easier for when the corresponding sandals were put on). The embroidery is executed with pure gold wire (0.15 mm in width). Not a gold thread made of gold foil wrapped around a textile core. The technique used is normal surface couching, but the couching pattern is a slanting line and not normal bricking. The couching thread is naturally coloured silk. Once the embroidery was completed, the gold wire was hammered flat. The embroidery pattern transferred onto the red samite consists of dark lines (ink?).

The tomb of Archbishop Hubert Walter (AD c. 1160-1205) was opened in 1890. The beautifully embroidered socks were in exceptional condition. Christie (1938) describes the original colour of the silk twill fabric as possibly having been green. The silver-gilt threads have been underside couched. The pattern is geometric with diamonds filled with eagles, stars and crosses. The socks were made in England around AD 1170-1200.

Philip of Swabia was king of Germany from AD 1198 until his assassination in AD 1208. Philip belonged to the Hohenstaufen family and was born in AD 1177 in Pavia, Italy. His father was Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his mother was Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy. The textiles were found in his grave in Speyer Cathedral in 1900. However, this was not Philip's first resting place. Since he was murdered in Bamberg, he was initially buried in Bamberg Cathedral and relocated five years later. It is likely that some of his funeral attire came from the Bamberg Cathedral Treasury. Most notably, the stockings as they are much older than Philip himself. The fabrics used and the quality of the embroidery point to the 11th century and not the late 12th/early 13th.

The embroidery on the shaft of the socks is quite unusual. The design of the heavy silk fabric (proto-lampas) has been embellished with gold embroidery. Some elements have been completely filled with couched gold threads, whilst other elements only have an outline in couched gold thread. It is possible that gold threads of different gold content, and thus colour, were used on purpose to achieve a shaded effect. The couching thread was likely a red silk. The original colour of the silken fabric could not be determined as it is so degraded.

The gold embroidery is very fine with 50 to 60 parallel threads per centimetre. This sounds familiar. The Imperial Vestments kept at Bamberg (the place where Philip was murdered!) Cathedral and dating to the 11th century are also decorated with very fine goldwork embroidery.

The embroidered stockings of King William, Archbishop Hubert Walter and King Philip share several characteristics. 1) The design has been embroidered directly onto a heavy silken fabric. 2) The embroidery only uses gold thread, either surface or underside couched, and no coloured silks for part of the design. and 3) The design is non-religious. I'll have three more socks for you next week!

Literature
Browne, C., Davies, G., Michael, M.A. (Eds.), 2016. English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Christie, A.G., 1938. English Medieval Embroidery: A brief survey of English Embroidery dating from the beginning of the tenth century until the end of the fourteenth. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Herget, M. (Ed.), 2011. Des kaisers letzte Kleider.: Neue Forschungen zu den organischen Funden aus den Herrschergräbern im Dom zu Speyer. Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer.
Muthesius, A., 1995. Chapter III: The silks of the tomb of Archbishop Hubert Walter, in: Muthesius, A. (Ed.), Studies in Byzanthine and Islamic silk weaving. The Pindar Press, London, pp. 45–54.
Seipel, W. (Ed.), 2004. Nobiles Officinae: Die königlichen Hofwerkstätten zu Palermo zur Zeit der Normannen und Staufer im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Wien.

The 14th century Grandson Antependium. It is a  pretty mix of embroidery techniques, styles, languages and geographical areas. Let's explore!

The Grandson antependium is housed at the Historisches Museum in Bern, Switzerland and catalogued under Nr. 18. It is 244 cm wide and 88 cm high and consists of three separate parts. The knight kneeling to the left of the central figure of the Virgin and Child is the donor of the piece. His coat of arms identifies him as Othon de Grandson (c. 1238-1328). Although born near Lausanne in Switzerland, he became a close friend of King Edward I of England. Othon de Grandson travelled widely throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area when he joined the 9th Crusade. Othon accumulated great wealth and donated it to various religious institutions in both England and Switzerland. This particular antependium was donated to the Cathedral of Lausanne where Othon is entombed. With the amount of gold used for the embroidery, it must have been a very expensive piece.

The central part of the antependium shows the enthroned Virgin and Child with two vases with foliage and two angels with censers on either side. The design has a Byzantine flavour which is emphasised by the Greek embroidered inscription for the name of Christ. But that's not the only language used. Mary is addressed in Latin and the two angels are addressed in ancient French. The design isn't purely Byzantine either: the censers are distinctively Western European. Byzantine embroideries with embroidered donor figures are not known in this era either. Where was this piece made? And for whom originally?

Most scholars now agree that the central part of the embroidery was likely made in Cyprus. The island is conveniently placed en route to the Holy Land and also served as a retreat base when things went wrong during the crusade. Cyprus belonged to the Byzantine Empire with its Eastern Orthodox version of Christianity. At the same time, it had ample visitors from the West. Was the central composition mostly finished when Othon saw it at a Cypriot embroidery workshop? Where the texts added on his request? The knightly figure and the coats of arms certainly were.

And then we have the two separate side panels. Very different from the central panel. Style, embroidery technique and materials used differ from the central panel. And their design is non-religious. The side panels are thought to have been embroidered in England as they sport underside couching. Is this a rare remnant of non-religious opus anglicanum? Did Othon come across two embroidered soft furnishings in England that together with the panel he probably acquired in Cyprus would make up a fitting antependium for the high altar in his cathedral back home? As the embroidery is cut at the top, the two panels were not specifically intended for that high altar when they were made. I think we see a rare glimpse of opus anglicanum 'for the noble home' preserved in this extraordinary antependium. What do you think?

Literature
Martiniani-Reber, Marielle (2007): An exceptional piece of embroidery held in Switzerland: the Grandson Antependium. In Matteo Campagnolo, Marielle Martiniani-Reber (Eds.): From Aphrodite to Melusine: Reflections on the Archaeology and the History of Cyprus. Geneva: La pomme d'Or, pp. 85–89.
Stammler, Jakob (1895): Der Paramentenschatz im historischen Museum zu Bern in Wort und Bild. Bern: Buchdruckerei K.J. Wyss.
Schuette, Marie; Müller-Christensen, Sigrid (1963): Das Stickereiwerk. Tübingen: Wasmmuth.
Woodfin, Warren T. (2021): Underside couching in the Byzantine world. In Cahiers Balkaniques 48, pp. 47–64.

Today I am going to introduce a new book on Opus anglicanum to you. One of my students posted about it in the Medieval Embroidery Study Group. As the book is written in English, the language used by most people in the international embroidery scene, these books are too important to ignore. They have the potential to become gospel. At € 125 + shipping, the book isn't exactly a bargain. So, let's explore its contents together so that you can make an informed decision as to whether to buy it or not.

The Bologna Cope: Patronage, iconography, history and conservation is edited by M.A. Michael and is the second volume in the series "Studies in English Medieval Embroidery". The book can be ordered through Brepols publishers. As the Bologna cope is held in an Italian museum, the book's chapters are mainly written by Italian scholars. But as the editor is from the UK, the book is published in English. Italy has many splendid medieval embroideries and a large body of literature about them. However, it is all published in Italian. Not a language most of us are fluent enough in.

The book starts with a general introduction to the subject. Those of you who went to see the Opus anglicanum exhibition in the Victoria & Albert Museum a couple of years ago, probably remember the Bologna cope as it was displayed right at the entrance. This first chapter also briefly introduces us to a few other embroidered vestments held in Italy. Neither the iconography on these pieces nor their embroidery techniques are described. The pictures are mostly not detailed enough to fill in the blanks.

The second chapter is by M.A. Michael himself and mainly deals with stylistic comparisons between the design of the cope and several other works of contemporary art. It does have a rather good overview of the historical sources containing references to the makers and dealers in Opus anglicanum. However, a lot remains unclear as the dealers can often not be confidently separated from the makers. If you want to know more about the makers of Opus anglicanum, this chapter is not going to add much.

A large chapter is devoted to the iconography of the cope. It is illustrated with many pictures of the embroidery. However, as many of the scenes are quite large, the pictures are mostly not detailed enough to learn more about the embroidery. Only a hand full provide enough detail.

The next two chapters will not be of interest to most embroiderers. One chapter deals with the possible references made to this cope in the inventories of the Friars Preachers in Bologna. And the other chapter deals with the publication and exhibition history of the cope.

The 6th chapter sounds very promising: "Textiles and Embroidery in Italy between 1200 and 1300". Unfortunately, the majority is on the fabrics and not on the embroidery. And don't be fooled. We are not getting an overview of embroidered pieces made in Italy in the 13th-century. It only briefly explores the remaining textiles associated with Pope Benedict XI (donor of the Bologna cope) and his predecessor Boniface VIII. Are there no other 13th-century Italian embroideries? There are! They can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum, in the Domschatz in Aachen, in the Keir Collection and in the Museo Episcopal Vic. As I don't read Italian very well, my research into Italian medieval embroidery is slow and far from complete. This chapter should have been an excellent opportunity to thoroughly introduce a non-Italian reading audience to the topic.

But it is the last chapter that really has me fuming: "The conservation of the Bologna cope". This chapter should contain a section on the materials and techniques used to create the embroidery on the cope. It doesn't. We are only told that the embroidery is executed on two layers of linen. Count, please! The gold threads are made of silver gilt foil wrapped around a silken core. Composition of the metals? Spun directions? Colour of silken core? Thickness? Any details of the silken threads used for the split stitch embroidery? Length of stitches? The chapter does contain a few close-ups and a few macro images (no scale!). But that is all. What a missed opportunity.

All in all, this book is, at best, a coffee table book. The research essays are not brilliant. For the embroiderer, this book is a huge disappointment and a missed opportunity. No information is added compared to the catalogue entry in "English Medieval Embroidery" from 2016. Should you buy the book? Only if Opus anglicanum is really your thing and you have the cash to spare. Instead, save up for the publications of the Abegg Stiftung and perhaps take some German lessons?

Literature
Browne, C., Davies, G., Michael, M.A. (Eds.), 2016. English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Michael, M.A. (Ed.), 2022. The Bologna Cope: Patronage, iconography, history and conservation. Studies in English medieval embroidery II. Harvey Miller, London.

During my research into medieval goldwork embroidery, I came across a cope held in the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Bezoeking church in Lissewege, Belgium. Although the beautiful cope hood was made in 1954 by the famous Belgian company Grosse of Brugges, the rest of the embroidery is much older. The literature dates the cope around AD 1500 and the online catalogue even as late as AD 1501-1600! This seems much too late to me. I have a suspicion that the cope is a composite piece. Embroideries from one or more vestments were combined into this new cope. Let me argue my case. For copyright reasons, I cannot incorporate pictures of the cope into my blog. Please click here for the online catalogue. You can change the language to English, French or Dutch. If you scroll down, you can see all the available pictures for this object. You can even download them (and zoom in even more) for private research!

Firstly, if we look at the embroidery of the orphreys on either side of the front opening we see that the goldwork embroidery is executed in underside couching. Although the goldwork embroidery is badly damaged it is clearly underside couching. When I pull all the underside couched embroidery from my database of nearly 1500 medieval embroideries it becomes clear that the bulk of underside couched embroidery dates to the second half of the 12th-century until the first half of the 15th-century. The Belgian cope is dated to the (beginning) of the 16th-century and thus seems too late.

If you look at the detailed pictures in the online catalogue, you'll see that the saintly figures of the orphreys on either side of the cope's opening have been cut out of the original fabric. They were subsequently appliqued onto the current red velvet and the seams were covered with a piece of twist (note the long linen? stitches that hold it all in place). Originally, these saintly figures were stitched onto linen. My database contains 68 pieces for which the base fabric of the underside couching is one or two layers of linen. These pieces seem to concentrate on the time period from the second half of the 13th-century until the first half of the 15th-century. We've narrowed the time period by about a century.

When I saw the embroidery on the orphreys for the first time, they reminded me of the embroidery on the Clare chasuble and that on the Vatican Cope. Both date to the last quarter of the 13th-century. It also has some similarities with the figures on the Syon cope from the first quarter of the 14th-century. The figure of Mary with a lily in one outstretched hand and baby Jesus standing on her lap is very similar to the one seen on the Jesse cope. Also dating to the first quarter of the 14th-century. A date for the Belgian orphreys somewhere between the last quarter of the 13th and the first quarter of the 14th-century seems to be more likely.

Just a note of warning: the silk embroidery in these figures is not all original. Just like the goldwork embroidery, the silk embroidery is quite damaged. And whilst the later embroiderers had probably no idea how to repair underside couching, they did know how to silk shade. You can clearly see the difference in the silk shaded areas (thicker silk also) and the original minutely split stitched areas. When the figures were origianlly made, their embroidery was of the highest quality!

But there is more embroidery on this cope! The whole 'body' of the cope is 'powdered' with angels, double-headed eagles, fleur-de-lys and a large depiction of the coronation of the Virgin. This is not your classical Opus anglicanum. The goldwork embroidery is executed in normal surface couching and the silk embroidery is executed in vertical silk shading (also known as tapestry shading). These kinds of embroideries are of later date than the 'true' Opus anglicanum orphreys. From the sparse mentions in the literature, it becomes clear that these appliques were mass-produced in embroidery workshops in England and then traded within England and to Continental Europe. Literature from Continental Europe also states that it is likely that these appliques in the 'English style' were also produced locally. As these embroideries are generally considered inferior to 'true' Opus anglicanum, they have so far not gotten the attention they deserve. Their development and therefore their dating is poorly understood.

That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed the embroidery on the Belgian cope as much as I did! This piece seems to be unknown in the English-speaking embroidery scene. As I have been invited to study some chasubles in a museum in Görlitz, the next blog will be published on the 21st of March.

Literature
Browne, C., Davies, G., Michael, M.A. (Eds.), 2016. English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Versyp, J., 1955. "Engels" borduurwerk in het Noorden van Westvlaanderen. Artes Textiles II, 28–33.

When I returned from my lovely family visit to the Netherlands, I had one of these pesky little Deutsche Post notes informing me that I had to pick up a parcel in the next village and pay customs duties. As usual, you have no idea which parcel it is until you have paid the outstanding bill and they hand it over to you. To my delight, it was Tanya Bentham's book Opus Anglicanum: a practical guide! I pre-ordered the book as soon as Tanya announced the possibility on her blog. The blog comes highly recommended as the humour with which Tanya both writes and stitches is unsurpassed. I particularly liked her rendition of a medieval watermill with a CCTV camera above the entrance. So let's dive into the book!

The book is in essence a paper version of all Tanya's embroidery courses. It is filled to the brim with information and tips from a master embroiderer who has practised her art for many years. Best of all: it is written with the same kind of no-nonsense straight-talking dry humour as her blog is. Things like: "It is slow, too, so, if you need a quick fix, go to do some cross stitch; if you want to get your teeth into something, try opus" in the introduction are not for everyone. However, this is honest advice. You will simply not ever get the same level of mastery as Tanya when you are not equally prepared to sit on your butt and STITCH A LOT. Oh, and don't ever try opus with stranded cotton. Ms Bentham doesn't like it :).

The book starts with a chapter on materials, tools and frames. Whilst Tanya stresses that you don't need a lot of fancy stuff to practice opus, it is necessary to use a good (slate) frame that will hold your fabric drum taut (her method of testing with a full bottle of wine is just another version of seeing what happens when a cat sits on it).

The next chapter delves into the mighty split stitch. Tanya not only details stitch length but also shows what happens if you still think it is okay to use stranded cotton :). There's also ample information on different types and brands of silk, as well as picking colours. Medieval embroidery is all about the play of light, so what thread you use and how you place your stitches is very important.

The split stitch chapter is followed by three project chapters. Each project is shown in clear step-by-step photographs with precise instructions. The projects are tailored in such a way that they increase in difficulty and each teaches you new skills.

Opus is not only about the mighty split stitch. Underside couching provides the necessary bling. A whole chapter is devoted to explaining this stitch in depth. And then it is your turn again. Project chapters with (adapted) designs from the Syon cope, the Bologna cope and the Pienza cope give you ample opportunity for wielding your needle. My favourite is "Rumpelstiltskin" with a background of underside couched facing pairs of falcons. Yummy!

The last chapters in the book deal with applying your finished embroideries as slips onto something else and assembling an almoner's purse. The last pages are filled with designs drawings and a list of suppliers.

As said before, the book is packed with tips and troubleshooting. This shows that Tanya is really at the top of her game. A master is not somebody who does not make mistakes, but who knows how to fix them when they inevitably happen. Everything Tanya knows about opus is in here. No information is kept from you. If you want to sink your teeth into opus, follow Tanya's instructions and practice a lot. Along the way, you will pick up the confidence and skill to work your own masterpieces!

Anything I didn't like about the book? Yes. The binding and the cover aren't very sturdy. This makes a book cheaper to produce (GBP 19,95 is a steal for a 208-page book with over 600 pictures!), but it is a trade-off when it comes to longevity. Furthermore, I would have liked to see a suppliers list with entries for mainland Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand. After all, this book was not written for UK stitchers only. With protectionism on the rise, knowing where to source materials in your own region becomes increasingly important as shipping costs and customs duties are getting insane.

Where to find the book? Please order from Tanya directly! Writing a book does not make you rich. On the contrary. When you order from the writer directly, she/he will get the maximum financial return.

Literature
Bentham, T., 2021. Opus Anglicanum: a practical guide. Marlborough, Crowood. ISBN 978 1 78500 896 2.

At the beginning of January, I and my husband were lucky enough to be able to visit the embroidery exhibition in Paris. Today I'll show you some stunning pieces from the Opus Anglicanum section. The term for this type of embroidery from the 12th-14th centuries translates as 'work from England' and usually consists of very fine silken split stitches and underside couching. It was greatly valued throughout Europe especially, but not solely, for religious purposes. Therefore, you will find these stunning pieces of embroidery in museums all over Europe. But beware: not all Opus Anglicanum embroidery was actually made in England or by English hands. Medieval Europe was already so well connected that both ideas and people travelled a lot.

The graves of bishops are a great place to search for medieval embroidery. Bishops were usually laid to rest in their finery in a grave with better preservational conditions than Joe Average. Antiquarians from the 19th century knew that too and when these graves were opened for whatever reason, they brought their scissors along. This is illustrated for instance on a pair of liturgical sandals from a grave from the Cathedral of Saint-Front in Perigueux: three different museums own pieces of the same pair of sandals.

Today, many museum visitors turn their noses up when they see these brownish fragments of textile. They are mostly not 'pretty' in the usual sense. But I was very pleased to see that Musee de Cluny devoted a whole display case to these extraordinary finds. For obvious reasons, the levels of lighting were lower than in the rest of the exhibition so my pictures are sometimes a little dark. Nevertheless, look at these stunning patterns of birds and scrolling in very fine underside couching!

Another stunning piece of embroidery on display was the above panel with the martyrdoms of the saints. There is a second panel too with female saints. Both are kept in different museums in Belgium but originate from the same church in Namur, Belgium. It was in use as an altar frontal but might have originally been a vestment. The embroidery on this piece is absolutely immaculate and very fine. I particularly love the different goldwork couching patterns in the background and the immense detail on the horse. Although only the above panel was on display in Paris, both panels were displayed at the Opus Anglicanum exhibition in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London a few years ago.

One of the biggest pieces of embroidery on display were the fragments of a horse trapper (a protective garment for a horse in battle or tournament). It was unfortunately impossible to capture all (over 20, many quite small) fragments in one picture. The detail of the goldwork embroidery is amazing. The lion's mane and hairy claws are so full of movement through laying the goldthreads in different directions. In amongst the bodies of the lions are many small human figures in courtly dress. They clearly show how to embroider on such a difficult fabric as velvet: cover it with a thin piece of silk. When the embroidery is finished, cut the excess silk away.

Although this piece of embroidery comes under Opus Anglicanum it does not show any underside couching and only small areas of split stitch (the silken parts of the claws). Instead, the goldwork is all 'normal' couching and the small figures and the foliage are stitched in running stitch (hence you can see the silk that was used to keep the hairs of the velvet at bay when stitching). It is said that in using these two embroidery methods the actual embroidery would take much less time then when split stitch and underside couching were used. I agree when it comes to the split stitch versus the running stitch. The latter is much quicker as it covers more ground with fewer stitches. However, I am not so sure that normal couching is that much quicker than underside couching. I now practice both and the only marked difference for me is that underside couching is harder on your body due to the slight extra force you need to apply with every stitch.

By the way, these fragments have an interesting 'upcycling' story to them. The horse trapper was probably originally made for King Edward III. He was a guest at the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) at Koblenz, Germany, in AD 1338. The horse trapper probably remained in Germany as a royal gift. It was turned into a set of vestments for the Altenberg Abbey. These were dismantled in 1939 to once more show the original horse trapper.

There were many more beautiful pieces on display in this part of the exhibition. For those of you who were not able to visit in person, I can highly recommend the exhibition catalogue. It is packed full with good quality pictures and many close-ups. More on my textile adventures in Paris in further blog posts!

Literature
Browne, C., G. Davies & M.A. Michael (eds.), 2016. English medieval embroidery Opus Anglicanum. Yale University Press. ISBN: 978-0-300-22200-5.
Descatoire, C., 2019. L'art en broderie au moyen age. Musee de Cluny. ISBN: 978-2-7118-7428-6 .
Michael, M. (ed.), 2016. The age of Opus Anglicanum (= Studies in English medieval embroidery 1), Harvey Miller Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-909400-41-2.

P.S. Did you like this blog article? Did you learn something new? When yes, then please consider making a small donation. Visiting museums and doing research inevitably costs money. Supporting me and my research is much appreciated ❤!