Highlights
Chasuble of the Archbishop Willigis of Mainz
- Artist
- –
- Locality
- Byzantium or Near East (silk fabric)
- Date
- c. 1000
- Material
- Silk, skin gold
- Dimensions
- H. 144 cm
- Location
- not exhibited
- Inventory Number
- 11/170.1-2
- Acquisition
- From the monastery St Victor in Weisenau. Assigned from the Royal Collections of the House of Wittelsbach in 1911
- Epoch
- Romanesque
- Categories
- Textiles
Description
This robe is over 1,000 years old and yet it has been completely preserved. Due to its rarity and preciousness it is one of the museum's ultimate textile treasures. Its shimmering, golden yellow silk fabric with an exotic pattern may have been made in Syria. Such luxury fabrics were reserved for princes or intended for ecclesiastical use. A chasuble enveloped the priest who wore it during mass like a little house (Latin casula). As Archbishop of Mainz (975-1011) and Archchancellor of the Empire, Willigis held a high position of power and even crowned Henry II as King of Germany. The gold trim on the chasuble was probably added two centuries later. This proves the continuous use and high veneration of this liturgical vestment.
You can also find this object in the online collection
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