032

  • Epigonation

  • Early 16th century
  • Artist unknown (Italian), Venice
  • Embroidered vestment fragment: silk, gold and silver fibers, emerald
  • 30.0 x 30.0 cm., 11-7/8 x 11-7/8"
  • Gift of Dr. Paul Plante through Catherine Carter Goebel, Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts, Paul A. Anderson Art History Collection, Augustana College 2008.33

Essay by Margaret Morse, Associate Professor of Art History

This embroidered panel came to the Augustana collection identified as a sixteenth-century Venetian work. Such a classification may seem strange given the Greek inscription that runs along the border, but works of art bearing Greek letters or executed in a Greek manner would have been entirely common in Renaissance Venice, as that city had long political and religious ties with the Byzantine empire as well as colonies in Greece and the Aegean. The diamond-shaped textile is most likely an epigonation, a stiff fabric panel bishops and other high-ranking church officials of the Orthodox church hung over their belt to rest on their right thighs (Woodfin 305 and Johnstone 18-19). If this epigonation is from Venice, then it probably came from the church of San Giorgio dei Greci, the Orthodox church (completed 1573) that served the large Greek population that resided in the city during the Renaissance.

The inscription, a verse from Psalms (45:3), reads, "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, With Your glory and Your majesty." These words allude to the origins of the epigonation (Father Papanikolaou). Byzantine emperors bestowed on their military commanders ceremonial swords, usually accompanied by thigh shields suspended from the belt, to honor their bravery and feats in defending the empire. Over time, clergy also received this imperial tribute, but were granted only the thigh shield, which eventually morphed into a common liturgical vestment that symbolizes defense of the faith (Johnstone 19).

A half-length image of Christ occupies the center of this epigonation, identified by the Greek abbreviation for the name Jesus Christ—ICXC—and the gold nimbus that frames his head. Surrounded by swirls of floral patterns, he raises both hands in a gesture of benediction, and is dressed as an archbishop while wearing the crown of an emperor, a reference to his power over both spiritual and worldly affairs. Textiles were costly items and critical to the liturgical context as they enhanced the visual and material magnificence of church interiors. This example is no exception, despite its worn condition. Made largely from silk, it was embroidered with gold and silver threads as well as jewels, evidenced by the one emerald that still adorns Christ's crown.