The design of the Vatican cope is worked in underside couching, split stitch, and laid- and couched work. The centre of the cope's back has representations, from top to bottom, of the Coronation of the Virgin, the Crucifixion, and the Virgin and Child. There are also standing figures of the apostles, saints and angels. None of these representations are particularly specific for any particular occasion.
The cope may have been a gift from the English king, Edward I (1239-1307), to Pope Boniface VIII (r. 1294-1303), who had visited England as a young cleric (when he was still called Benedetto Caetani).
The vestment is included in the exhibition on opus anglicanum at the Victoria and Albert Museum, October 2016 - February 2017.
Sources:
- BROWNE, Clare, Glyn DAVIES, and M.A. MICHAEL (2016). English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum, exhibition catalogue, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, Catalogue no. 23, pp. 146-150.
- LEE, R.W. (1932). 'An English Gothic Embroidery in the Vatican', Memorie della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia, Ser. III, III, 1932, pp. 1-34.
WV