Page 134 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

and flowers,
outlined with tiny crescents, rosettes,
*7 ' which frames ornate medallions inscribed "the two stoles and a maniple (Mannowsky [1931]- pis.
133,
3, 30-33,112-114,132, i3za,
nos.
1938,
DALMATIC sultan/' It is thought to be Mamluk Egyptian or 5-6, 46-49,122-125,132). The cope, two chasu-
Syrian, from around 1300-1350. Around the bles, and one other dalmatic are also now in
c. 1350-1400
probably Gdansk neckline is an inset of red and green silk lampas, Lubeck (Nuremberg 1958, nos. 3,18,19, 52). The
five silk textiles, three with gilt yarns; with a white and blue pattern of paired facing eastern silks of this unusually large set were con-
blue linen lining birds and palmettes, attributed to the Italian sidered so precious that every small bit was used;
7
height 124 (48 /s); width with outstretched sleeves center of Lucca in the mid-fourteenth century. the gaps were filled with only slightly less pre-
3
133 ($2 /8); width at hem 132 (52] The left sleeve has a patch of Lucchese gold- cious Lucchese silks. Such a costly set was prob-
inscribed: (in rounded naskhi script) as-sultan brocaded red silk lampas of around 1350-1400. ably for only the most solemn occasions —the
c
al- alim and as-sultan The visible part of the design is a leaping leopard missa solemnis at consecrations, for instance —
references: Falke 1913, 2:62-63; Kendrick 1924, 67; in a large letter S. The blue linen of the lining when there might be more celebrants than for
Mannowsky [lyjij-iyjS, 1:6, 3:15-16, no. 111, p/s. may come from near Gdansk, where the dalmatic usual masses. The textiles indicate that the dal-
122, 123; Nuremberg 1958, 11-12, cover was presumably assembled. matic was made around 1350-1400. Gdansk was
illustration; Atil 1981, 223, 228, n. 5; Wardwell Liturgical vestments were usually made in then ruled by the Teutonic Knights, who had
1988-1989, 100, 106-108, 127, n. 106, figs. 41-41 A;
Berlin 1989, 172-173, figs. 186-187, 569-570, matching sets, to be used together. At least eight close ties with the court of Emperor Charles iv
no. 4/43 other vestments from the Marienkirche were pri- in Prague (r. 1346-1378), and hence to Venice,
marily of similar striped lampasses: a cope, four a major center for trade with the Mamluks
EKU, Berlin; Museum fur Kunst und chasubles, and three other dalmatics; along with (Mannowsky [i93i]-i938,1:6). C.A.
Kulturgeschichte der Hansestadt Lubeck

The dalmatic is one of the three main outer gar-
ments used for Roman Catholic rites since the
Middle Ages, along with the chasuble, which
shrank over the years from a bell shape to a
double-shield shape, and the large, half-circle
cope. The dalmatic, which has sleeves but is open
down the sides, derives in shape and name from
an ancient garment of Dalmatia, now northwest
Yugoslavia, which became a mark of important
personages during the late Roman Empire.
This dalmatic is one of the hundreds of rich
vestments originally used in the Marienkirche
(Church of Mary) in Gdansk. The front and back
are of a magnificent silk and gold lampas, in which
dark blue, salmon, and light green stripes are sep-
arated by narrower white ones with salmon and
beige outlines. On alternate wide stripes are
palmettes, or the inscription "the sultan, the
wise/' The narrow stripes show crescents with a
dot at the center, separating dotted florettes. The
sleeves are of a slightly different lampas, with
wide stripes of the same colors, but outlined in
salmon and dark blue, and white and light blue
narrow stripes. The wide stripes show alternately
the same inscription, or palmettes and ovals of
leaves, with parrots and birds in between. In the
narrow stripes, the crescents with the dot separate
running dogs, deer, and lions. The type of these
two textiles, dated around 1270-1350, has some-
times been identified as Chinese, for the Mamluk
market (Kendrick 1924, 67), but more often either
Syrian or Egyptian or specifically Syrian. Most
recently it has also been assigned on technical
grounds to Khorasan, then a part of the vast
Mongol Empire, and now northeast Iran. Various
regions of the Mongol Empire are believed to have
created such striped, inscribed silks for sale to
Mamluk Egypt and Mesopotamia. The triangular
insets down the sides of the dalmatic are of a red
and green silk lampas showing an ogival trellis

EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 133