Chasuble

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the tabard-like garment that a Catholic priest would wear during church services. From a distance- which is how most of the congregation would have viewed the priest- the textile reads as a luxurious and expensive figurative silk. However, viewed up close, it becomes apparent that this is a considerably cheaper alternative, with the figurative design of lush blooms, verdant foliage and swirling ribbons all simply embroidered onto a thin and unremarkable plain silk ground. Although metal-wrapped thread is used throughout, and would originally have provided some glitter and shine, its quality is again mediocre: thin, base metal wrapped around very thick cotton cores, which have become visible due to abrasion in certain areas of heavy wear, such as the shoulders.

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