Panel from the centre top of a cope with the figure of Christ in Majesty

Central panel from a cope with the figure of Christ in Majesty, embroidered on a silk ground. The panel divides into two sections, separated by a horizontal band which bears the words 'JOHANNIS: DE: THANETO'. The lower two-thirds of the composition shows Christ in Majesty beneath a Gothic arch, his right hand raised in blessing. His left hand rests on an orb inscribed in Lombardic characters 'EUROPA AFRICA ASIA'. He wears a tunic and mantle, the red tunic has purple decorative bands embroidered with lions rampant and eagles displayed; the gold mantle with lions passant and dragons. The nimbus around his head is embroidered to represent jewels and the cross in it is embroidered in pearls. The blue ground behind the figure of Christ is powdered with small gold lions. The bottom edge of the panel is cut; tiny traces of what was embroidered below remain, and appear as if they may have been the tips of angels' wings.

Within the spandrels of the arch are the sun and moon, flanked by rampant wyverns and lions. Rising above the horizontal band are two pinnacled turrets in which stand the figures of the Annunciation: on the left the Angel Gabriel and on the right the Virgin Mary with the Dove above her.

Presented by Art Fund

The panel was purchased by the National Art Collections Fund for the Museum from the Dominican Priory, Haverstock Hill, where it had resided for many years; it is not known when it came into the possession of the Dominican Order but the sale came about because of their need for funds (permission from Rome was required to allow sale). The embroidery had been lent to the Burlington Fine Art Club's exhibition in 1905, and reproduced in colour in the catalogue. A.F. Kendrick (Department of Textiles) believed that 'Besides being important as a work of art, it has a special feature in that the name 'John of Thanet' is worked upon it, identifying it definitely as English work'. (Kendrick to Robert C. Witt of NACF, 4 July 1921).

The offer of the embroidery for £300 came through to museum on 30 June 1921, and Kendrick considered it 'very cheap'. He thought it might well command double the asking price if advertised in USA. Kendrick wrote to the Father Prior on 4th October expressing 'relief and satisfaction' about the acquisition of the panel which the NAF was prepared to purchase. The panel was to be picked up two days later between 11.00 and 12.00

(RP 1921/4297;1921/6237;1921/6329).

Historical significance: 'This panel is perhaps the most impressive example of Opus anglicanum to have survived' because of the scale of the figure. (Woolley, 1986)

Copes
This panel was once part of a cope, as is indicated by the blank triangular panel at the top (where the vestigial hood would have lain). The figure would therefore have sat in the centre of the back of the garment and been particularly visible to those following the clad clergyman. By the thirteenth century clerical attire was more or less stabilized throughout the Latin Christian church. According to the Rationale for the Divine Offices of the canonist and liturgist William Durandus (d. 1296), all ranks of the higher clergy were entitled to wear the cope (or pluviale) for processional occasions on feast days. As a result, inventories of monastic churches testify to the existence of a very large number of copes, Canterbury, for example, owning no fewer than sixty copes in 1315. (Dyan Elliot, 'Dressing and Undressing the Clergy', in E. Jane Burns ed. Medieval Fabrications. Dress, Textiles, Cloth, and Other Cultural Imaginings. London, 2004, pp. 56-58; Pauline Johnstone. High Fashion in the Church. Leeds, 2002, p. 11.)

The cope had developed from the same Roman garment (paenula) as the chasuble, but by the eleventh century had a different form: it was semi-circular and open down the front; the front opening fastened just below the neck across the chest with a short strip of embroidered material or a morse (a metal clasp); orphrey bands ran the full length of the front opening and on the back, the cope retained a vestigial hood which was triangular (as in the case of this example) or shield-shaped. (Johnstone, op.cit.)

Comparisons of Embroidery
The scale of the figures is relatively unusual on surviving vestments of this period, most having smaller figures in 'busier' compositions. This is true of the five other copes in the V&A which date to the first half of the fourteenth century. The Melk Chasuble (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) allows this panel to be put into context, as it is still in the form of a vestment: the figures are large in scale (though slightly smaller than in this panel) and in similar style. Indeed, Linda Woolley has speculated that the drawing for the two embroideries came from the same hand. The inventory of the vestments of Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) lists an English cope which may have been comparable, as it is described as having a large figure of a bishop, with the twelve apostles arranged in a semi-circle below. (Woolley, p. 193)

The graceful pose of the figures, the undulating folds of the ample garments, the softly waving hair and other details show strong affinities with the illuminated manuscripts of the East Anglian School.

Inscription and owner
The incomplete inscription 'JOHANNIS: DE: THANETO' referes to John of Thanet, a monk of Canterbury Cathedral. In a history of Canterbury Cathedral he is described as 'a Monk and Chaunter of this Church, well vers'd in the Mathematicks; but especially skill'd in Musick. He set the Services and Offices for this Church to Musick, and wrote some Legends of Saints. He died in the Year 1330, on the 6th of the Ides of April, in Time of High Mass, being aged 92 Years, and was buried in this Church' (J. Dart. The History and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of Canterbury, 1726, p. 184, cited by Woolley, p. 193). He seems also to have commissioned vestments for the Cathedral; an embroidered chasuble and an alb are listed in the 1315 inventory of the vestry, but no cope - 'Item Casula. J. de Taneto, de rubeo sindone de tuly. cum rosis brudato. Item Alba Johannis de Taneto cum parusis de rubea sindone de tripe brudatis cum rosis.' The cope may have been mentioned in the last few pages which are now missing.

Another reference to John of Thanet disagrees with or modifies what we currently have in the registers. The first is in R.W. Lee's review of Christie in the Art Bulletin, vol 23, no. 2, 1941, p. 183. She says that John did not die in 1330, but in 1320 (source: Causton's Obituary, MS D.12, f.16 in Christ Church Canterbury archive). She also thinks that he's the same John of Thanet who was professed at Christchurch in c.1279 and that he was elected abbot of Battle Abbey in 1298 before resigning in 1308.

There is also apparently an entry to him in the recent book on Canterbury monks: J. Greatrex, Biographical Register of the English Cathedral Priories of the Province of Canterbury c.1066-1540, Oxford: Clarendon, 1997, p. 300 (not consulted by this cataloguer).



Points of contention:
Glyn Davies has pointed out that the following references contradict existing information relating to John of Thanet in the accession register. See R.W. Lee's review of Christie in the Art Bulletin, vol 23, no. 2, 1941, p. 183. Lee says that John of Thanet did not die in 1330, but in 1320 (source: Causton's Obituary, MS D.12, f.16 in Christ Church Canterbury archive). She also thinks that he's the same John of Thanet who was professed at Christchurch in c.1279 and that he was elected abbot of Battle Abbey in 1298 before resigning in 1308.

If this biographical data is correct, then John would have been born around 1260, as monks did not profess before age 19.

Apparently, there exists an entry for John of Thanet in the recent book on Canterbury monks: J. Greatrex, Biographical Register of the English Cathedral Priories of the Province of Canterbury c.1066-1540, Oxford: Clarendon, 1997, p. 300.

Most known professional embroidery workshops were situated in London

Attribution note: Ecclesiastical embroideries of this complexity and with this kind of inscription were made for a particular patron, clergyman or church - in this case, for the monk John of Thanet.
Reason For Production: Commission

This panel is one of the most impressive examples of opus anglicanum (the Latin for English work, the high quality English embroidery noted in documents between about 1250 and 1350) to survive. It would originally have been at the centre top back of a cope, a cape-like ecclesiastical vestment worn for Christian church ceremonies. The blank triangular panel above the figure of Christ would originally have been covered with a vestigial hood (the hood, formerly functional, had by this time become purely decorative).

The image on this panel shows Christ in Majesty beneath a Gothic arch; in his left hand he holds an orb with EVROPA AFRICA and ASIA on it, and his right hand is raised in blessing. To left and right of the top of the arch are the sun and moon. Above these are, on the left, the Angel Gabriel and, on the right, the Virgin Mary and a dove. The horizontal band directly above the arch is inscribed in Latin with JOHANNIS DE THANETO, John of Thanet, a monk of Canterbury Cathedral. He was described as 'Monk and Chaunter of this Church, well vers'd in Mathematicks'. He may have commissioned the cope from which this panel came, although it is not specifically identifiable in an inventory of 1315, which includes a chasuble and alb belonging to him, though there are pages missing from the inventory.

Stylistically and technically the embroidery is of excellent quality; the graceful pose of the figure and the folds of the garments, the softly waving hair and other details have
strong links with illuminated manuscripts of the so-called East Anglian school.

The large scale of the figure (which is about 75cms in height) is matched only by the group of figures of the Crucifixion on a chasuble now in a Vienna museum and found in a monastery in Melk, Austria. The two pieces may be related and have come from the same workshop.

T.337-1921