Shroud depicting the Deposition from the Cross
Type:
Plastic iconographical object:
Shroud
Period:
1796 year
Dimmensions (cm):
168
/ 130
Location
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Sofia
Town: Sofia
Museum: National History Museum
Source
Country: Bulgaria
Other source: Others
Object identification notes
The exquisite make and careful embroidery which give substance to the depiction and plasticity here and there, the precious materials and the overall impression of festivity and solemnity allow to attribute the shroud with some official centres in the Balkans. Andre Grabar's commentary on the reliquary of St Demetrius of Salonika from the 11th century reports that the dome with the lamps hanging on the vaults are in fact a model of the canopy in his mortirium in Salonika. The same architectural form crowns the bier and rises over the cross in The Crucifixion. The shroud might also originate from Salonika.
Description
Pink satin with bullion embroidery in pale yellow, light blue and white silk threads. A wide frame all in bullion embroidery with floral motifs surrounds the composition. All figures are bullion embroidery. The foreground is taken by the deathbed of Jesus Christ. The scene is amidst four columns supporting a dome. Even Crucifixion is below it. The personages in the scene are few. These are The Virgin, John the Evangelist and Nicodemus. Two angels on their bent knees are depicted in the foreground. Six seraphim are embroidered in the space over the bier around the cross. The personages in the composition are in free postures. Architecture is marked off the canopy, in one of the sides up and down along the diagonal; most probably it depicts Jerusalem. The four evangelists are figures from the waist up and embroidered in all four the corners, in gorgeous, elliptical baroque medallions.
Iconographical technique: Bullion embroidery
Base material: Textiles
Satin
