Damask and Embroidery on a Set of Liturgical Vestments from the Second Half of the Fifteenth Century in the Franciscan Monastery in Hvar

Abstract

The sacristy of the Franciscan church of Our Lady of Mercy in Hvar houses a set of liturgical vestments consisting of four parts - two stoles, a maniple and a chasuble. All parts are made from green silk damask, while only the chasuble was decorated with embroidery which forms a Tau cross on the front and a Latin cross at the back of the chasuble. While the cross-arms are filled with a series of large and small knotted rings - the former framing the busts of saints and the latter heraldic features - the strip around the neckline of the chasuble is embroidered with a hunting scene. Although these  embroidered details have not been overlooked (a number of photographs have been published and the embroidery has been dated to the fourteenth century), the green damask did not attract attention. This article presents an analysis of this liturgical vestment which starts with a detailed examination of the damask fabric, and continues with its identification, description and comparison with a selection of similar examples. The suggested place of its provenance is Florence and the proposed date is the last quarter of the fifteenth century. These conclusions are followed by the analysis of the embroidered parts, for which a local provenance is suggested. The article confirms that the embroidery has been preserved on its original green silk damask background. On the basis of its construction and the preserved selvedge, it is concluded that the fabric was produced around the same time as the above analysed and dated damask. Due to the fact that it has not been  possible to decipher the pattern of the damask underneath the embroidery, a key feature for a more precise dating, the suggested date for this fabric is somewhat wider - the second half of the fifteenth century. The archaic nature of the embroidered saints, which has been the reason for the fourteenth-century date, is interpreted as a possible imitation of an older embroidery.