Embroidered altarpiece
Type:
Altarpieces,
Textiles
Date:
ca. 1468
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Spain
Medium:
Linen,
Silk,
Silver or gold thread,
Pearl
Dimensions:
retable 167 × 203.5 cm, antependium 89.2 × 211.8 cm
Description:
The only surviving textile altarpiece from medieval Spain closely resembles a carved and painted retables. On the lower part (the antependium), the scene of Christ's Resurrection is flanked by apostles. In the upper part, the enthroned Virgin and Child is under a Crucifixion scene and is flanked by scenes of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi. The scenes are set into fictive Gothic microarchitecture that projects strongly from the textile surface, an effect achieved by laying gold thread horizontally over a padded foundation.
An altarpiece was meant to focus the attention of worshipers. To this end, the silk and velvet embroidery is enhanced by gold-wrapped threads and tiny pearls, imitating the luminosity of the gold leaf applied to a carved or painted retable. This sumptuous textile altarpiece likely cost more than a carved one. It was displayed in the cathedral of El Burgo de Osma, in Castile, where its donor, Pedro García de Montoya, was the bishop from 1454 to 1475. Montoya's coat of arms—silver leaves and a bishop's hat—alternates with the heads of angels in the upper frame. (At the top center, God the Father wears a papal tiara.) Before donating it to the cathedral, Montoya used the textile as a portable traveling altarpiece.
An altarpiece was meant to focus the attention of worshipers. To this end, the silk and velvet embroidery is enhanced by gold-wrapped threads and tiny pearls, imitating the luminosity of the gold leaf applied to a carved or painted retable. This sumptuous textile altarpiece likely cost more than a carved one. It was displayed in the cathedral of El Burgo de Osma, in Castile, where its donor, Pedro García de Montoya, was the bishop from 1454 to 1475. Montoya's coat of arms—silver leaves and a bishop's hat—alternates with the heads of angels in the upper frame. (At the top center, God the Father wears a papal tiara.) Before donating it to the cathedral, Montoya used the textile as a portable traveling altarpiece.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
10,
11
Repository and Online Resources:
• The textile altarpiece is in the Art Institute of Chicago (inv. no. 1927.1779a-b).
• Watch a five-minute video about the textile's conservation here.
Image Credits:
Art Institute of Chicago
