Chasuble

Made of straw-colored (pale yellow) brocade, woven across its field with colored bouquets of flowers and fruit. It takes the form of a cape covering the figure front and back, leaving the sides and neck free (corresponding to the Roman-type cut).

The field of the chasuble, front and back, is decorated with silver-toned galloon in a grapevine ornament. All the edges are trimmed with golden galloon bearing a linear ornament.

On the reverse, the chasuble is lined with pink calico, and has cords sewn on to adjust its fit to the figure.

It entered the museum's collection in 1956.

Note: the chasuble, or casula (Latin casula — "cloak"), is an element of liturgical dress worn by Catholic, some Anglican, and Lutheran clergy. It is the principal eucharistic vestment of a priest and bishop in the Western Christian tradition, symbolically associated with Christ's yoke and the virtue of love (caritas). In the Eastern Christian tradition, the functionally and historically related vestment is the phelonion.

By form, chasubles are conventionally divided into Roman and Gothic types. The Roman type is characterized by a significant narrowing of the side sections (the so-called "violin" cut), which allows greater freedom of arm movement; such chasubles were often made of stiff or heavy fabrics. The Gothic type has a wider form, falling more loosely in folds and providing greater coverage of the figure. Front and back, the chasuble may be decorated with decorative bands — orphreys — often adorned with crosses, monograms, or ornament.

Following the liturgical reform initiated by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the wider, lighter Gothic-type chasuble came into widespread use in Roman Catholic practice. At the same time, liturgical norms do not require abandoning the traditional forms of the chasuble; the specific forms of liturgical vestments may be determined with regard to local traditions and established church norms.