Chasuble back

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is a fragment: cut at the shoulders, it is the back half of a tabard-like garment worn by Catholic priests over their clothing when taking church services. The green and red strips of fabric are examples of very fine complex weave silks; intriguingly, both were woven to repeat the same pattern, but in different color schemes. On this garment, intentionally or not, the red strip shows the pattern in its correct orientation (with the crown element upright), whereas the green strips have been flipped (with the crown element upside down).

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