Chasuble front

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is a fragment surviving from a Roman Catholic priest's vestment– the tabard-like Chasuble worn over an alb and other clothing while conducting church services. The two velvets of which it is composed are very fine: the glossy red velvet of the ground is decorated with the inferriata or ferronerie style, imitating the curlicues of ironwork; the central partial "orphrey" is a rich cloth of gold, incorporating multiple heights of bouclé loops, and lancé detailing. Although both velvets have been much patched and carefully repaired over the centuries, attesting to this vestment's prized status, the overall effect of this piece is still very beautiful.

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