This cover was designed and made to be placed over a lectern. Lecterns are the raised reading stands, normally set in front of the pews, on which the Bible rests and from which it is read during the service.
They may be either fixed in place or portable and were usually made of stone or wood, with a slanted top. Not only that this cover's shape and dimensions - being long and narrow - correspond to that purpose, but also the embroidered decorations were designed having its usage and positioning in mind.
The cover is made of green, plain cut velvet and embroidered with gold, silver and silk threads in a variety of techniques. The design comprises foliage ornament and small oval strapwork medallions showing the amrs of the Dominican order, the head of St. John the Baptist on a charger, and various other motifs; two square panels at the ends are embroidered, on a ground of white silk, with the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (surrounded by the four Doctors of the Church) and the Baptism of Christ (surrounded by the four evangelists).
The cover for most likely made in Seville about 1570-75 for the church of La Madre de Dios, which was completed in 1572. It may have been associated with an altar and carved retable on the south side of the church devoted to St. John the Baptist; the retable also includes representations of the Nativity, the Baptism and the four Evangelists, and the treatment of the Birth scene is similar to that in the embroidery. In this case it is highly unlikely the designer of the embroidered panels to be identified, but there is no reason to doubt that he belonged to the Seville school in the latter half of the sixteenth century.