TEXTILES

Textiles were a major commodity for both local and international trade as early as the late Middle Ages in Europe. Wool produced in England, France, and northern Spain was imported into Italy, and to Florence in particular. There it was transformed into richly colored broadcloth, which was traded throughout the continent and the Turkish Empire in the Near East. Wools were woven into elaborate damasks, with designs based on pomegranates and pineapple motifs that were widespread from the middle of the fifteenth century. Saint Ivo, on the interior left panel of the Coronation altarpiece, wears such a wool, examples of which have survived in the Germanisches National Museum in Nuremberg.

Saint Ivo’s robe, based on a fashion from the 1470s, is lined with fur, in this case probably sable that could have been imported from Russia. Fine fur, such as that of the small gray squirrel, had been used since at least the fourteenth century to line rich wool garments. Figures of saints and donors in religious works of art were often shown in this attire. Called “minivair,” the fur of several thousand such delicate animals might be required to line a single garment. Because of the white belly, the normal shape appeared as a “white shield” on gray ground. Saint Anne on the right panel wears a striped version, which is more in keeping with her religious rather than noble persona.

Ermine, the white “winter coat” of the wild mink, has been used to line the garments of the two small donor figures in the center panel. The black-tipped tails, called “powderings,” are easy to see. The number and density of tails on a garment indicated rank, with the king or emperor wearing the most.

Religious or classical works often used textiles that were “historic.” Those seen in paintings were actually copied from surviving examples passed on from artist father to artist son. Italian silk and gold brocades, Flemish or Italian wools, and furs from the Russian steppes were seen and understood to make powerful political and social comments in altarpieces such as this, information readily understood by the contemporary observer.

God the Father is depicted in a bishop’s cope, a semi-circular vestment worn for the celebration of the mass. The complex textile is a form of metallic, looped-pile velvet called “velluto a ricci” that was a speciality in Spain and Italy. The sophisticated design of acanthus leaves and floral motifs is a style that had originated more than fifty years before. It would have seemed to the observer to be solidly traditional and part of the church’s image of power and luxury.

Edward Maeder
Director of Exhibitions and Curator of Textiles
Historic Deerfield