Orphrey Cross
Late 15th century
- Medium
- Silk, satin weave underlaid with linen, plain weave; appliquéd with silk, satin weave; linen and silk, plain weave with supplementary pile warps forming cut solid velvet; and three-dimensional figures of silk, satin weave; linen, plain…
- Classification
- Religious/Ritual Object
- Dimensions
- 109.2 × 61.2 cm (43 × 24 1/8 in.)
- Culture
- Southern Germany
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Textiles
- Credit line
- Emily Crane Chadbourne Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This remarkable relief embroidery once decorated the back of a chasuble, the sleeveless overgarment worn by the priest celebrating Mass. The chasuble itself would have been made from a rich silk. The congregation saw this lifelike Crucifixion when the priest consecrated the bread and wine of the Eucharist, at that moment the priest faced the altar with his back to the congregation. The Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist are prepresented at the foot of the cross, Saint Peter with his key and Saint Paul with his sword fill its arms, while the top of the embroidery forms an image of the Trinity.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
