Sunday 31 July 2011

Papal Mitres: part 2

Amongst the many remarkable features of Benedict XVI's Pontificate is the rather singular distinction of having used more mitres as Pope as all of his predecessors of the last 200 hundred years put together!  This is the second in a series of posts about the Papal mitres which I find pleasing, together with a description of them.

The mitres of Pope Benedict fall (almost) into two categories: those used during the tenure of Marini the First (Piero Marini) and those used during the tenure of Marini the Second (Guido Marini).  

The second in our series, shewn above, is part of the Marini the First range and was worn at Vespers in the Basilica of Saint Paul-without-the Walls in January 2008.  This mitre is a very inventive adaptation of the mediaeval mitre.  A similar mitre was used by Pope John Paul II.

As we know, the most common form of ornamentation for the mitre, as it developed in Tradition, was for a decorative band to be run around the crown of the head.  This band was called the circulus.  Another band extended at right angles to the circulus, forming an upside-down "T".  This vertical ornamentation was called the titulus.  Often, the circulus and titulus were lavishly embroidered.  During the mediaeval period, that area of the mitre on the left and the right of the titulus, which forms almost a triangular shape, came also to be decorated, often will geometrical medallions studded with jewels.  For the purposes of our description, let us call these areas of the mitre quadrants.

Returning to the mitre of this post, it is made from a gold fabric and its circulus and titulus are formed from a beautifully-conceived cross-hatching of golden braids.  This would have been sufficient to create a worthy mitre.  But the designer of this mitre took a bold step and ornamented the quadrants of the mitre, not with embroidery and jewels, but with an applique of black and gold silk damask, carefully enhanced with further gold braiding.  The shape and height of the mitre are very well proportioned, according to the manner of the early mediaeval period and well-suited to the stature of its wearer, Pope Benedict.

On that occasion, the Pope was given to wear a cope matching the mitre (adjacent photograph).  This cope is made from a magnificent straw-coloured silk damask.  Like the mitre, the cope's orphrey is formed from a  cross-hatching of golden braids, broken up with squares of the same black and gold silk damask.  The decoration is beautiful and striking.  There is nothing about this  Italian-made mitre and cope which makes it incongruous with the Baroque style of Catholic Rome.

Noteworthy, also, is the magnificent Morse, or clasp used to hold the cope together.  Obviously a modern work, but beautifully conceived and ornamented. Unhappily, a clearer image was not available.

Friday 22 July 2011

Vestment for the Time "Per Annum"

The adjacent photograph shews a set of vestments completed for a Sydney priest in the Saint Martin style developed by the Saint Bede Studio.  The chasuble is made from a forest green brocade and ornamented (simply with a contrasting brocade) in the Roman style.  Unlike other examples of the Saint Martin chasuble, these vestments lack any additional ornamenting braids.  The vestments are fully lined in a rust-red cotton.


Click on the photograph for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com

Saturday 16 July 2011

Re-enchantment of a Roman chasuble

An old Roman chasuble (right)  remade
Known derisively as the "fiddleback" or inaccurately as the "Roman".  That well-known and abbreviated form of chasuble never makes an appearance on this Blog.  Some of these "Roman" chasubles are of great beauty, made of exquisite damasks and often wonderfully embroidered.  On the other hand, there are many which were crunched-out of the vestment-making businesses and are of no particular merit.  The "Roman" chasuble really looks well only on men of smaller build, where its abbreviated length and width is not so noticeable.

In this post, we will look at such a chasuble, which had seen better days.  Made in Italy in the 1940's from a tastefully embroidered red silk, its qualities were marred by an ugly gold lurex braid.  Faced with a decision between "retiring" the vestment or trying somehow to salvage it, the owner opted for the latter. 

After and before
The chasuble and its accessories were carefully taken to pieces and examined for what might be re-used.  The results are shewn in the attached photographs.  A misshapen and badly adorned chasuble was made into a new set of vestments in the Saint Philip Neri style.  The original fabric was re-used to ornament the new silk vestments.  In fact, the original fabric was used to ornament two new chasubles, the second of which can be seen here.

Searching for a word to describe such radical surgery, we lighted upon the phrase the "Re-enchantment" of a Roman chasuble.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Papal Mitres: part 1

Amongst the many remarkable features of Benedict XVI's Pontificate is the rather singular distinction of having used more mitres as Pope as (probably) all of his predecessors put together over the last 200 hundred years!  Most of his predecessors used two or three precious mitres at most (in addition to the cloth gold and simplex mitres). There are a number of websites which have a tally of the mitres used by Pope Benedict, so I won't be contributing to the statistics.

Instead, this is the first in a series of posts about the Papal mitres which I find pleasing, together with a description of them.

The first in the series, shewn adjacent, was presented to Pope Benedict on the occasion of his visit to the Abbey Monte Cassino a couple of years ago.  In addition, a matching cope and chasuble were presented.  These vestments and mitre are very much in the character of the style of vestments used in Italy in the 13th century. 

Confining ourselves to the mitre, it is made from a white silk damask and its orphrey (properly called the circulus and titulus) is also formed from hand-embroidered gold silk.  Quite unlike the baroque mitres, the ornament of such mitres is confined to orphrey.  Here we find, in geometrical patterns, precious stones of differing sizes and colours, arranged in a restrained and tasteful manner.  The shape and height of the mitre are very well proportioned, according to the manner of the early mediaeval period and well-suited to the stature of its wearer.

Admirable!


Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Saturday 2 July 2011

Priestly Ordinations 2011 - part 3

The third in this series of Ordination vestments features a chasuble  prepared for a young man who was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in the Co-Cathedral of S' Thomas More, Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee (USA)  on 4th June, along with two other men.

The ordinand asked for a chasuble in the Saint Martin design, but strictly in colours of white and gold. This design is extremely ample and is intended to be more contemporary in appearance, even though based in Catholic traditions.

A renaissance-style ivory damask was chosen for the chasuble, ornamented with a brocade of white and gold, outlined with a narrow galloon. The ornamentation is in the traditional Roman style of the TAU. The chasuble was fully lined in gold dupion silk.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Enquiries: stbede62@gmail.com