WORK OF CATHOLIC ART.

New Zealand Tablet, 6 November 1919, Page 39

WORK OF CATHOLIC ART.

Among recent accessions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is a Spanish alb, -a work of monumental patience, the scope of which it is difficult to grasp in these irritating days of unrest. It was presented to the Museum by Mrs. Ansley Wilcox, of Buffalo. The vestment dates from the end of the 18th century, and was purchased in Spain by the donor from the -family of the Archbishop for whom it was made. At first glance it is impossible to realise the unusual beauty of this vestment; it appears to be a fine old linen of openwork weave, beautifully embroidered in gold thread, with a little frill of Malines lace at the back and sleeves, fastened at the throat with a splendid gold cord and tassels interwoven with purple silk. r - , v - A magnifying-glass is necessary to reveal the hidden beauty of the vestment and to unfold to the eye the wilderness of intricate stitchery that has transformed a simple breadth of plain linen into a transparent fabric of most delicate lace-like texture. The overwhelming amount of preparatory work in such an undertaking .can only be realised by figuring it out thread by thread. The embroidery, which is in pure gold thread, is worked in a delicate tambour or chain stitch. The upper part of the alb has, a set pattern of small floral sprays and birds, while the lower half is bordered by an elaborate frieze designed with .an elegance that can be attributed only to an artist of first rank, and reflects the art of- the French ornamentists of the Louis XVI. period. . The design of this is made up of - a series of subjects chosen from Biblical literature; each figure is placed on an elaborately. drawn pedestal beneath a gracefully turned baldachino topped with festoons ; supported by slender uprights with foliated scrolls and wheatheads, combined i with the dove motive repeated from the field pattern. Above each alternate canopy appears the familiar fountain motive with two confronted" birds, a survival of six-teenth-century ornament. The arrangement of the figures is .as follows; Directly in front and in the v centre of the back ' are two as yet unidentified; as female figure with flowing draperies and garlands ; suggesting - at : -once the nymphs 'in : Botticelli’s Spring. In these each line is replete with

buoyant action that reflects a certain joyousness which is in strong contrast to the other tragic subjects among which it is placed. - ' J:? />< ;f v •

r' •}■ In front of | the right of the centre ' three Biblical themes are represented; Samson i slaying the Philistine, the Ascension, and the . Resurrection. At the left ...are David the royal harpist, Judith bearing aloft the head of Holofernes, and John the Baptist. While the position of the figure holding the head, placed as it is next to that of John the Baptist, might represent Salome, : it will be remembered that i Salome usually . bears the head on a salver, while Judith, as in this case, holds it in her uplifted hand. The delicacy and refinement of ; the : work are shown in every stitch, which bears the stamp 'of a devotional art inspired ,by the religious fervor of some cloistered Sisterhood. ’>