Chasubles: Leo Peters and Art Nouveau

My guilty pleasure are richly decorated, sparkling chasubles (in the mists of time, one of my ancestors for sure must have been a crow). A couple of years ago, I was introduced to the chasubles designed by Leo Peters when they were on display in the Willibrordus church in Deurne, Netherlands. Peters worked in the style of the Art Nouveau with which he was successful around 1915-1920. His designs are very characteristic and easily recognisable once you have seen one. So here comes a bit of eye candy:

This black chasuble almost has a Celtic feel to it seen from a distance. It would have been worn on All Souls and at burials.

To speed up the embroidery process, Peters had hands and faces executed in extremely fine detail with the silk threads covering the background completely. The figure's clothing is stitched with the threads spaced further apart and some parts are mere painted on. Not surprisingly as Peters had a background in fine arts.

The details in the embroidery and the 'flow' of the whole garment is incredible.

Ever since this exhibition, I 'hunt' for more examples of the work by Leo Peters and his band of stitchers. So I was delighted to find another chasuble in the Lambertus church in Horst, Netherlands.

A hand embroidered chasuble in red silk showing Christ on the cross surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists. This chasuble could be worn on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Pentecost.

The white cope shows Christ in heaven as well as the prophets Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It would have been worn at the high feasts of Christ, Mary or the Saints.

Here's another white chasuble showing the Agnus Dei and the book with the seven seals surrounded by angels.

The two accompanying dalmatics (garments worn by the deacon and subdeacon) show St. Joseph and St. Mary.

I've also spotted a purple chasuble in the collection of the Catherijne Convent in Utrecht, Netherlands. And they have at least a further white one in their collection showing a tree with snake and a medallion with Mary and baby Jesus.

Since Peters worked in Kevelaer in the Dutch/German border area, it is likely that German churches hold some of his work as well. Have you spotted any of his work? Please let me know! What do you think of the work of Leo Peters? Please leave your comments below.