The Bologna Cope: Patronage, Iconography, History, and Conservation
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Book Series
Studies in English Medieval Embroidery, vol. 3
- Pages: approx. 161 p.
- Size:225 x 300 mm
- Illustrations:10 b/w, 151 col., 3 tables col.
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2026
- € 125,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-1-915487-53-7
- Hardback
- Forthcoming (Sep/26)
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This volume reviews the evidence for the production of ‘opus anglicanum’ in London during the thirteenth century and provides stylistic evidence for dating for placing the cope within the orbit of the Westminster court during the reign Edward I (1272-1307).
Subject(s)
BIO
Michael A. Michael
A Professorial Fellow of the University of Glasgow. He is head of the Opus Anglicanum Project and was the consultant curator of the exhibition English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum (2016–17).
Summary
This third volume in the series, Studies in English Medieval Embroidery, is a monograph dedicated to the Vatican Cope. It is edited by Dr. M. A. Michael head of the Opus Anglicanum Project at the University of Glasgow with Italian translations by Dr Jane Bridgeman.
Gifts of English embroidery (opus anglicanum) were regularly sent by the Kings and Queens of England from Westminster to Rome. Many were sent directly to the Pope and others were commissioned by senior churchmen. The Vatican’s Cope only arrived in its collections in 1915, but its design reflects known works at Westminster Abbey and its iconography suggests that it was gifted to the Pope before 1295, during the reign of Boniface VIII.
This volume will be the first detailed investigation of the iconographical cycle depicted on the cope since the study made by Rensselaer W. Lee in 1932. It reviews the evidence for the production of ‘opus anglicanum’ in London during the thirteenth century and provides stylistic evidence securely placing the cope within the orbit of the court of Edward I (1272–1307) at Westminster. A new investigation of the documentary evidence surrounding the acquisition of the cope by the Vatican in the first years of the twentieth century sheds new light on its provenance, and a full report is provided on the recent conservation of the cope before its exhibition in London and Lisbon in 2016–17.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Michael A. Michael
Foreword
Alessandra Rodolfo
Introduction/Introduzione
Barbara Jatta
Acknowledgements and Abbreviations
1 A history of an enigma: reflections on the opus anglicanum cope in the Vatican Collections
Alessandra Rodolfo
The Vatican Cope – key to iconography and Plates
2 Design, style, date and iconography
Michael A. Michael
3 Commerce, craftsmanship and diplomacy: opus anglicanum in context
Lisa Monnas
Appendix 1: Techniques used by the makers of the Vatican Cope
Chiara Pavan
Appendix 2: The conservation of and re-display of the Vatican Cope
Viola Ceppetelli
Appendix 3: Technical report on the conservation analysis of the Vatican Cope
Fabio Morresi
Bibliography
Glossary
Contributors
List of illustrations
Index
