Chasuble

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This very well-preserved garment synergizes centuries' old Catholic practice with the machine age. This priest's vestment– a tabard-like chasuble intended to be worn over the alb and other clothing when conducting church services– is made out of a shiny, silver-shot machine-woven silk; the hand-embroidered floral elements continue a long tradition of superior, Italian needlework, although the palette is now garishly hued with synthetic sewing silks.

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