Apparel from a Dalmatic (early 1500s): Art, History and Details

Apparel from a Dalmatic (early 1500s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This lavishly enriched embroidery, known as an apparel, is part of a set that originally embellished a dalmatic, an ecclesiastical garment, one on the front above the hem and another on the back. Gold and silver thread form the striking strapwork, or interlaced scrolls, of blossoms and leaves. The variety of stitches would have made the embroidery sparkle in low light levels, such as in a candlelit church. Some are worked in straight lines, others in curved contours, while still others create more textured basket-weave effects.

Object facts

• Title: Apparel from a Dalmatic
• Date: early 1500s
• Culture: Italy, early 16th century
• Type: Embroidery
• Technique: Silk, gold and silver thread; embroidery
• Dimensions: Overall: 41.9 x 54.6 cm (16 1/2 x 21 1/2 in.)
• Collection: T - Ecclesiastical
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1977.169.b

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William J. Robertson

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.