Print Specifics:
- Type of print: Lithograph - Original antique print
- Year of printing: not indicated in the print - est. 1878
- Original artist: Albert Racinet
- Publisher: Imp. Firmin Didot.
- Condition: 1 (1. Excellent - 2. Very good - 3. Good - 4. Fair)
- Dimensions: 10 x 15 inches, including blank margins (borders) around the image.
- Paper weight: 2-3 (1. Thick - 2. Heavier - 3. Medium heavy - 4. Slightly heavier - 5. Thin)
- Reverse side: Blank
Notes:
- Green color around the print in the photo is a contrasting background on which the print was photographed.
- 1 inch = 2,54 cm.
Legend to the illustrations in the print:
- The importation into the West
of Oriental fabrics, the finest of which came essentially from Constantinople,
Jerusalem, and several Greek towns, goes back to the early Middle Ages,
and for centuries their features appear to have remained identical. Until
the end of the thirteenth century, the products of the Western manufactories
were, with few exceptions, imitations of the Greek, the Persian or the
Egyptian styles. So that the thick silk cloths of the fourteenth century
are decorated in a style belonging to previous epochs. N° 1 and 2 are
taken from the portfolio left by Prisse d'Avennes. No. 2 is the fragment
of a border with a repeated design, each section being adorned alternately
with an eagle or a lion. It is an orphrey of eminently Byzantine character,
although there is no annotation to indicate the origin. N° 1 is the
border and the ground decoration of a chasuble. This part-coloured fabric
of crimson and violet, which presents the richest of aspects in accordance
with Byzantine opulence, is one of the finest existing specimens of designs
woven in the weft. The animals facing each other in the design belong to
the Syrian tradition, whilst the dividing meanders bordered with small
running patterns are in keeping with the Greek style. Lastly the separate
border recalls the finest of Moorish meanders. N° 3 is found amongst
the ornaments of Aix-la-Chapelle. The decoration clearly expresses the
sacerdotal destination of the fabric and its Christian character, whilst
remaining close to certain styles of pagan times. The stem with coiled
ends represents the pastor's crosier, while the vase is the Greek krossos,
a container used for water or funerary ashes. The three eucharistic hosts
which appear over each of these vases confirm with great clarity the nature
of the decoration, their triple image recalling the mystery of the Trinity.
Lastly, the design in the shape of a cross set in the central intervals
completes the Christian symbolism. The red ground of the fabric, a prerogative
of those of the highest rank, helped to raise pontiffs to the level of
sovereigns. No. 4. Silk fabrics of various colours mingled with gold
and even pearls, seem for a long time to have been reserved for priestly
vestments. The present fabric appears to be one of those samites worn by
knights over their coats of mail, towards the end of the twelfth century.
The proportion of the design corresponded to its use, as it is reduced
here only by half. In the manner in which the pairs of birds and foxes
are placed in symmetrical opposition, it exhibits the typical arrangement
which Viollet-le-Duc pointed out as characterizing the ancient Oriental
tradition.
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