Christ Gathering Roses, Centerpiece of an Altar Cloth(?) (early to mid-1400s): Art, History and Details

Christ Gathering Roses, Centerpiece of an Altar Cloth(?) (early to mid-1400s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The altar cloth was probably made for a southern German convent in the 15th century. While the focus on the Christ child is typical for female spirituality in the late Middle Ages, there are no comparative examples for the Christ child picking flowers. The detailed depiction of plants and flowers is of unusual quality for the embroideries of this period.

Object facts

• Title: Christ Gathering Roses, Centerpiece of an Altar Cloth(?)
• Date: early to mid-1400s
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Embroidery
• Technique: Linen: plain weave; silk: embroidery (split stitch)
• Dimensions: Overall: 85.1 x 92.1 cm (33 1/2 x 36 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 2021.238

A detail from the museum

The Christ child has put aside his globe to devote himself entirely to picking flowers.

Collection credit

Gift of Elizabeth and Martin David in memory of the Heidenhain family

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lutz, Gerhard. “Christ Child.“ In Riemenschneider and Late Medieval Alabaster, edited by Aumaine Rose Smith, 142-145. Cleveland, Lewes: The Cleveland Museum of Art; D Giles Limited, 2023.

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.