Chalice Veil with Monogram of Christ (1500s): Art, History and Details

Chalice Veil with Monogram of Christ (1500s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This piece has been identified as a veil used to cover the chalice that holds the wine until the moment of communion in a Catholic Mass. The central monogram (IHS) abbreviates the name of Christ in Greek, surrounded by a circle of rays that indicate a holy symbol. The technique is of needle lace, knotted in an irregular pattern (mezza mandolina) and darned in two directions.

Object facts

• Title: Chalice Veil with Monogram of Christ
• Date: 1500s
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Lace
• Technique: Bleached linen(?): needle lace (mezza mandolina) with red silk thread
• Dimensions: Overall: 52.1 x 53.3 cm (20 1/2 x 21 in.)
• Collection: T - Ecclesiastical
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1920.1156

A detail from the museum

The monogram for Christ derives from the first three letters in his name in Greek – ΙΗΣΟΥΣ. The Greek letter Σ (sigma) is written as an “S” in English.

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

Further reading listed by the museum

• Ricci, Elisa. Old Italian Lace. 1913.
• Levey, Santina M. Lace: A History. [London]: Victoria & Albert Museum, 2004.

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.