The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of March 29, 2024
Procurator’s Velvet Stole
c. 1575– 1600
dyed silk; velvet in two heights of cut pile (pile on pile, alto e basso), woven as two stole widths
Overall: 142.2 x 71.1 cm (56 x 28 in.); Mounted: 147.3 x 77.5 cm (58 x 30 1/2 in.)
Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.829
Location: not on view
Description
Venetian law obliged senators to wear colored textiles, in contrast to other male citizens, who wore black. The Procurator, a very high level government official, was required to wear a red stole, a cloth worn over one shoulder. So that it would read the same from front and back, the pattern reverses halfway, done by the weaver’s assistant on a drawloom. The line down the center is part of the original manufacture, enabling two stoles to be cut apart for use. The survival of an entire, uncut loom width is extremely rare. The velvet has two different heights of cut pile. The longer pile, which appears lighter, forms the pattern.- Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. Mentioned: p. 60, cat. no. 130 archive.org
- Renaissance lace rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1, 2012-December 9, 2013).Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943).
- {{cite web|title=Procurator’s Velvet Stole|url=false|author=|year=c. 1575– 1600|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.829