Cope Hood thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Cope Hood

1450-1499 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Cope hood embroidered with couched gold thread, for upper background, and long, short and basket stitching over gold threads for the foreground.

Christ is shown face-on flanked by the two thieves, who are blindfold. In the background are two smiling angels in flight bearing chalices. To the lower-right of the scene are three figures on horseback, one of whom may be a priest as he wears a headdress and a Greek(?) symbol on his chest. To the lower-left stand The Virgin Mary, St. John and Mary Magdalene, with two other mourning women. At the bottom, three soldiers quarrel over Christ's clothes. The soldiers are dressed in High German costume, as are the other two horsemen. All figures are embroidered on canvas in long and short stitches and applied to the ground.

The object has been backed with a later (18th century?) silk.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold, silver and silk embroidery
Brief description
embroidered linen, 1450-1499, Flemish
Physical description
Cope hood embroidered with couched gold thread, for upper background, and long, short and basket stitching over gold threads for the foreground.

Christ is shown face-on flanked by the two thieves, who are blindfold. In the background are two smiling angels in flight bearing chalices. To the lower-right of the scene are three figures on horseback, one of whom may be a priest as he wears a headdress and a Greek(?) symbol on his chest. To the lower-left stand The Virgin Mary, St. John and Mary Magdalene, with two other mourning women. At the bottom, three soldiers quarrel over Christ's clothes. The soldiers are dressed in High German costume, as are the other two horsemen. All figures are embroidered on canvas in long and short stitches and applied to the ground.

The object has been backed with a later (18th century?) silk.
Dimensions
  • Height: 53.3cm
  • Width: 51.4cm
Object history
Purchased by the Museum in 1888 for £25.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Literary referenceNew Testament
Collection
Accession number
990-1888

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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