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Cope made for Antonio Barberini (1607-1671), Grand Prior of Rome in the Order of Saint John and the Knights of Malta

1623–28
Not on view
A phenomenally expensive special commission, this cope celebrates Barberini’s illustrious family—his uncle was Pope Urban VIII—with a repeating pattern of the family’s devices, a bee and a radiant sun. Barberini’s coat of arms, embroidered on the orphrey band, surmounts a Maltese cross. The cope was worn by the Grand Prior while celebrating Mass, and officiating priests donned similar garments made from the same distinctive textile. The glittering effect of the complete set of vestments and matching altar hangings (including a frontal, now in Boston) must have been stupendous, especially when experienced in the flickering candlelight of the church sanctuary.



This cope was displayed in European Textiles and Costume Figures, on view at the School of Industrial Arts (visible at center in the photograph of 1935).

[Elizabeth Cleland, 2020]

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Cope made for Antonio Barberini (1607-1671), Grand Prior of Rome in the Order of Saint John and the Knights of Malta
  • Date: 1623–28
  • Culture: Italian
  • Medium: Embroidery in silk and metal thread, on lampas with four pattern wefts tied in twill weave, with applied gold fringes
  • Dimensions: H. 52 1/2 x W. 119 inches (133.4 x 302.3 cm)
  • Classifications: Textiles-Woven, Textiles-Ecclesiastical
  • Credit Line: Gift of Walter Jennings, 1911
  • Object Number: 11.101
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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