Regular
readers know that I have a more than passing interest in historic
vestments and I was recently alerted by the newly updated Belmont
Abbey website to the existence at the nearby medieval church of St
Bridget at Skenfrith in Monmouthshire of a late medieval cope. This rare
survival has recently been restored and the Abbot and some of the
community at Belmont had been to the service of thanksgiving in the
church.
Quite
how it survived the reformation era and the ensuing centuries of
neglect is unclear but by the 1840s it was serving as the cover for the
Communion Table in the church, when it was recognised for what it is.
The Skenfrith Cope
Image:friendsofstbridgetskenfrith.co.uk
The Skenfrith Cope is a fine example of English embroidery of the
second half of the fifteenth century. The different parts of the pattern were first
worked in coloured silks and silver gilt threads on canvas, and
afterwards applied to the velvet.
In the centre of the cope is the Virgin Mary, borne aloft by three
angels. On either side is a Seraph, and another is represented
below. The rest of the cope is covered with floral devices; the
fleur-de-lis, the pomegranate and the double headed eagle. On
the hood is a seated figure of the Virgin holding the infant
Saviour. The Orphreys (ornamental borders), are embroidered
with standing figures of the Saints, under canopies. Next to the
hood, on the right hand side, is the figure of St. Andrew - the
other figures are too worn to be identified with certainty.
As
the Abbot pointed out in his sermon, which is on the Abbey website, red is not the colour usually
associated with Our Lady. Today one would expect white or blue, but in
the middle ages the emphasis was on the splendour rather than the
colour, so this was doubtless the most splendid fabric the parish could
get with which to honour the Virgin.
The parish website has a piece about the cope which can be seen here.
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