Chasuble, stole and maniple

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three embroidered roundels, late 16th-century in design and of middling quality of execution, represent a female saint, perhaps Barbara, the Infant Christ, and Saint Francis. They have been sewn, along with yellow satin silk appliqués, onto two red velvet strips, themselves applied to later, green velvet, decorated with additional yellow satin silk appliqués, the whole creating the front and back panels of a chasuble- worn by the priest over his garments. They have been accessorized with a matching stole and maniple. Though the overall appearance of this ensemble reads elegantly from a distance, closer inspection reveals a thin velvet, loosely spaced (and therefore cheaper) or nué embroidery, and even painted in shadows on the cartouches.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art