Not currently on display at the V&A

Altar Cover

1590 (dated)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Altar cover of embroidered linen in stem and short stitch, and partly with chain stitch, in coloured silks and gold thread. With a representation in outline of the Crucifixion in the middle, on one side with the Virgin Mary and St Christopher, and on the other with St John and St Anne. Flowers sprout out from the cross and three angels catch, in chalices, the sacred blood from the wounds on the body of Christ. At each corner is an evangelist's symbol and the whole is framed in a border of parallel and slanting bands of small ornament in outline work with short stitches in crimson, between which are little bands of geometric forms worked in satin stitch with white silk, edged with plaited and twisted white thread lace. At the corners are the letters 'A. H. A. R.'.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Embroidered linen in coloured silks and gold thread
Brief description
Altar cover of embroidered linen with silks, Germany, dated 1590
Physical description
Altar cover of embroidered linen in stem and short stitch, and partly with chain stitch, in coloured silks and gold thread. With a representation in outline of the Crucifixion in the middle, on one side with the Virgin Mary and St Christopher, and on the other with St John and St Anne. Flowers sprout out from the cross and three angels catch, in chalices, the sacred blood from the wounds on the body of Christ. At each corner is an evangelist's symbol and the whole is framed in a border of parallel and slanting bands of small ornament in outline work with short stitches in crimson, between which are little bands of geometric forms worked in satin stitch with white silk, edged with plaited and twisted white thread lace. At the corners are the letters 'A. H. A. R.'.
Dimensions
  • Length: 48ft
  • Width: 40in
Marks and inscriptions
'A. H. A. R.' (At the corners)
Collection
Accession number
4459-1858

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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