Embroidered Panels: Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi

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Embroidered Panels: Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi

About the Item

c. 40.5 x 42.5 cm. (framed and matted, c. 61 x 62 cm.) Southern Germany, Bavaria?, c. 1550 These three embroidered panels were probably once part of an antependium, which may have included other scenes from the Infancy of Christ. In fine condition, with few losses, they are embroidered in silver, gold, and brightly colored silk threads. The entire surfaces are filled with horror vacui floral and fauna of all sorts. A ribbon-like gold border (possibly slightly later) surrounds each of the scenes. Under an elaborate arcade (possibly the letter "M" which might identify the convent), the Annunciation shows Mary seated at her lectern interrupted in her reading, hands clasped in prayer as the Angel Gabriel appears on the right. Rays descend from a dove in the upper center, and a banderole bears the letters AM/ SPDT/ BTM "Ave Maria gratia plena SPiritus Domini tecum Benedicta tu in mulieribus". Flowers and birds of various types, including an owl, adorn the margins; in the foreground appear a dog with a collar, a rabbit (symbolizing fertility), and a unicorn (indicative of the Virgin's chastity). Another larger unicorn is embroidered between Mary and Gabriel. Perhaps a print served as a model for the scene, because of its reversal from what is typical (Annunciation from the left). The second scene in the sequence depicts the Nativity. The Child is in the center lying directly on the ground; behind are the ox and the ass. The Virgin kneels adoring the newborn, and Joseph shown with a halo is on the left, holding a lantern with a candle to illuminated the scene. An angel in the upper center displays a banderole with "Gloria in Excelsis." The floral and fauna decoration include a dog with a color, several sheep, a red squirrel, a snail, a peacock, and various elaborate birds. Like the other two scenes, the Adoration of the Magi takes place below an initial "M"(?). The three Kings approach from the right, each holding gifts embroidered in metallic thread. The third king is the black Magus. The animals include a squirrel, a sheep, several birds, a stag and a lion. Significant is the stag who is copied from the Gottingen Modelbook, a book of designs much used by printers and manuscript illuminators and that circulated widely from around 1435 on. The naive style of the figures with their pink cheeks and broadly defined bodies and garment is characteristic of southern German art from the sixteenth century. This type of embroidery is typically called "nun's work," because nuns in convents throughout the Germanic lands specialized in the medium. No exact comparisons have been found. Apart from some obvious areas of loss, the textiles are in extremely fine condition with little fading of the colors.

Dimensions:
Height: 15.95 in (40.5 cm)Width: 16.74 in (42.5 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 3
Materials and Techniques:
Silver
Place of Origin:
Germany
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
c. 1550
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: JG1207039852D