Embroidered Sleeve from a Dalmatic (1500–1525): Art, History and Details

Embroidered Sleeve from a Dalmatic (1500–1525) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This sleeve belonged to an ecclesiastical garment called a dalmatic. Gold and silver thread form overlapping lattices with crowns on crimson velvet. In the scene, Christ washes the feet of Peter, who is accompanied by other apostles. Gold thread dominates, in the shaded-gold technique (or nué), its brilliance varying based on the density of the silk thread crossing over it. The resulting high quality could only have been achieved by a master embroiderer working from a good painter’s design.

Object facts

• Title: Embroidered Sleeve from a Dalmatic
• Date: 1500–1525
• Culture: Italy, Florence
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk, gold and silver thread; velvet, embroidery: or nué (shaded gold), split, satin, and couching stitches
• Dimensions: Overall: 55.7 x 56.3 cm (21 15/16 x 22 3/16 in.); Mounted: 66 x 66.7 cm (26 x 26 1/4 in.)
• Collection: T - Ecclesiastical
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1998.51

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

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.