Band with Figures of Women and Angels (1500s–1600s): Art, History and Details

Band with Figures of Women and Angels (1500s–1600s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Likely a religious scene, female figures bear crosses on their chests facing angels playing a keyboard instrument. Later piecing and repairs have distorted the appearance of the central figure to that of a double-tailed mermaid. The top part of her dress has been replaced with an extra bust and set of arms. This is especially visible when comparing the bottom of her dress with the dresses of the far left and far right figures.

Object facts

• Title: Band with Figures of Women and Angels
• Date: 1500s–1600s
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Lace
• Technique: Bleached linen: needle lace, filet/lacis (knotted ground and darned in two directions)
• Dimensions: Overall: 42.6 x 144.3 cm (16 3/4 x 56 13/16 in.)
• Collection: T - Lace
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1920.1272

A detail from the museum

Horizontal writing along the towers can be deciphered as Ave Maria, gratia plena, translated from Latin as Hail Mary, full of grace.

Collection credit

Gift of Myrta Leonora Jones

Further reading listed by the museum

• Ricci, Elisa. Old Italian Lace. 1913.

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.