A heads-up for those of you who live in the Cleveland area, or who will be passing through Cleveland anytime soon.
There’s a magnificent piece of 15th century embroidery on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
It’s a stunning example of split stitch shading, Or Nué, sculptured goldwork, and silk embroidery.
Thanks to Susan, a reader here on Needle ‘n Thread, who recently visited the CMA, and shared some images!
The embroidery is of the Coronation of the Virgin, and it’s about 23″ round. You can find more images – including some close-up photos – and a thorough description of the medallion on the Cleveland Museum of Art website.
The combination of split stitch embroidery in silk, Or Nué, and padded goldwork is stunning. The halos on the angles, their wings and tunics – this is the type of piece I could contemplate for hours. The closer you look, the more you see. See behind the angels’ halos there? That colorful swirled background? It’s the detail of the carpet at the base of the throne, worked in gold threads couched over in silk to create the design.
Could you imagine creating a piece of art like this? Or just one figure from a piece like this? If I could pick a figure from the image and reproduce it, it would be the little angel in blue, playing the mandolin, on the lower right.
Next time I drive to the East Coast, I’m definitely stopping in Cleveland.
In the meantime, for your Saturday Morning Browse, check out the Cleveland Museum of Art website!
Websites, Glitches, & Repairs – Oh My!
Yesterday, during some web work, Needle ‘n Thread rebelled and went berserk. It took a little bit of time to get things back to normal. If you received a “Test Message” via the daily newsletter, that was an error, and I apologize for bothering your inbox.
If you tried to leave a comment on yesterday’s give-away and encountered problems, please try again today – everything is working normally now.
Thanks to the team over at Imagemakers for getting it all back together as quickly as possible and in excellent order. I appreciate it!
