Byzantine Tradition in Church Embroidery

VIII-264 pages. 120 b&w illustrations, 1 color illustration. Hardback with jacket. FAIR CONDITIONS, STAINS AND TEARS AT THE JACKET. Inside cover: The gold church embroideries of Byzantium, which are the counterparts of the great medieval vestments of western Europe, are little known outside the domain of the Orthodox church. Yet they provided the models for a tradition of church embroidery which survived the Turkish conquest and continued to flourish as late as the nineteenth century. This book discusses the relationship of these embroideries with the major arts of Byzantium, their role in the celebration of the Orthodox Liturgy, and the iconographic signifìcance of their decoration. The techniques of the Byzantine period are explained and compared with contemporary practice in the west, as well as with later methods in the Orthodox church. The effect of historical events on their development and the changes in design which modified the traditional forms over the centuries are also considered, as well as the work of some known designers. Finally the chief surviving examples of this art are listed and analysed and many of them illustrated, both generally and in detail.