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Title

Fragment of the Vestment of Saint Peter of Osma

Generic classification
Textiles
Century
Early 12th c.
Cultural context / style
Islamic art
Dimensions
19 11/16 x 16 15/16
Technique
Woven
Provenance
El Burgo de Osma Cathedral (Burgo de Osma, Soria, Spain)
Current location
Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, United States)
Inventory Number in Current Collection
33.371
Inscriptions / Marks

In the smaller medallions, repeated in a mirrored manner: "This was made in the city of Baghdad, may God protect it".

Object history

In the 12th century in the cathedral of Burgo de Osma.

In 1933 in New York, collection of Herman A. Elsberg, who sold it in the same year to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for 14,500 dollars.

Description

The fragment of Almoravid fabric in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston would have been part of the clothing in which St. Peter of Osma (Pedro de Bourges, c. 1040-1109), bishop and founder of the city of El Burgo de Osma, in whose cathedral he is buried, was buried. It is a silk lampas woven with a weft of red, green and ochre silk threads brocaded with gold thread and features a decoration based on rows of large double circles, bordered with a counter. In the center of each medallion is a symmetrical motif with two lions attacking harpies facing each other, whose tails curl around the belly of the felines. The axis of symmetry is formed by a stylized plant stem, like a tree of life. In the border of the circle appears four times a figure in genuflection dressed in red clothing decorated with black X's inside white squares and holding a griffin and a winged lion in his hands. Each medallion incorporates four smaller ones arranged at regular intervals that simulate joining it with the adjacent circles. These secondary discs are decorated with rosettes and an inscription reading "This was made in the city of Baghdad, may God preserve it", the legend is repeated in a specular manner (muthanna), which is a rarity among preserved Almohad textiles. In the spaces between the medallions there is an eight-pointed star with four vegetal stems that end in palmettes and open into scrolls that enclose animal figures.

The structure of the decoration is frequent in Andalusian sumptuary pieces, appearing in works such as the pyx of Madinat al-Zahra in the Musée du Louvre in Paris (c. 970) or the caliphal ivory chest (c. 1000-1025) of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, from León and, of course, in Almerian textiles such as the chasuble of St. Thomas Becket (1116-1117, Fermo, Diocesan Museum). The model derives from Sassanid and Byzantine prototypes, such as the so-called Sudarium of Charlemagne (ss. VIII-IX, Paris, Musée National du Moyen Âge), having already been tested in al-Andalus in the fabric that covers the ark of San Isidoro (ss. VIII-X, León, Museo de San Isidoro) although only with a vegetal theme.

The iconography is also recurrent, the lion being a symbol of the sovereign in the Islamic world, appearing since the middle of the 8th century, as can be seen in the mosaic of Khirbat al-Mafjar and when it appears hunting it alludes to its power over its enemies. The figure holding two griffins is nothing more than the reworking of the motif of the "lord of the beasts" the mythical hero who dominates the forces of nature, a motif documented since the third millennium BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Although it is sometimes difficult to establish the origin of these weavings, at least the technique of the one in question, which uses two sets of warps and two sets of wefts to create respectively the background and the decorative motif, is exclusive to al-Andalus, so there is no doubt about its origin in the dar al-tirāz [royal loom] of Almería, the main textile center of al-Andalus Almoravid, famous at the time for its imitations and forgeries of oriental fabrics, especially Baghdadi, which came to be confused with the originals, to which the aforementioned inscription contributed.

Yāqūt al-Hamawi in his Book of the Countries (1228) states that the best brocades "were made in Cordoba but were later surpassed by those of Almeria. In the land of al-Andalus no workers are to be found who make better embroidery than those of Almeria." The production of the Andalusian city was characterized by the fineness of the lines that delimited the motifs, without using large masses of color, which were never strident, preferring oranges, greens and blues on an ivory background with areas highlighted with gold thread. Its period of creation spans approximately from 1106 to 1188.

Also Ibn Khaldun in his al-Muqqaddimah (Introduction to Universal History, 1377), praised both Andalusian textiles and the quality of their dyes, indicating that the tirāz or embroidery was a symbol of dignity that royalty bestowed on those it wished to honor and to whom it gave positions of responsibility in its government. Even if this concept was unknown in the Burgo de Osma in the 12th century, the luxurious character of the fabric and to some extent exotic as well as its iconography, justified its use for high ecclesiastical dignity.

In fact, the presence of this type of work in Christian kingdoms was usual, often given as a diplomatic gift or as payment for an alliance. Al-Maqqari in his Nafh at-tib min gusn al-Andalus (1629) recalls that al-Mansur gave the Christian counts who helped him sack Santiago de Compostela in 997 two thousand two hundred and eighty-five pieces of various kinds of spun silk from Tirāz, twenty-one mantles or tunicas of wool, two amber cloaks, eleven of scarlet, seven tapestries or coverlets and two Byzantine brocade dresses among other garments, so it is not surprising that they left a certain mark on the peninsular art, as revealed by the mosaic of the presbytery of the abbey church of Ripoll (XII c.) or part of the mural paintings of the church of Santiago de Compostela in 997. XII) or part of the mural paintings of the hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga (c. 1129-1134), relatively close to Burgo de Osma.

Many of these luxurious fabrics have come down to us in a fragmentary state, since their contact with the body of a saint immediately turned them into a relic, which is why they were considered precious objects. Both for their material and their technique, their origin and their history, favoring their own sacred character that have been preserved until today.

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* The relative location of dealers, antique shops, art galleries, and collectors leads us to the places where they were based or had one of their main headquarters. However, this does not always indicate that every artwork that passed through their hands was physically located there. In the case of antique dealers and art merchants, their business often extended across multiple territories; sometimes they would purchase items at their origin and send them directly to clients. Similarly, some collectors owned multiple residences, sometimes in different countries, where they housed their collections. It is often difficult to determine exactly where a specific piece was kept during its time in their possession. Consequently, the main location of the dealer or collector is indicated. These factors should be considered when interpreting the map. Refer to the object's history in each case.
Bibliography
  • AKIN-KIVANÇ, Esra (2021): "“Imprints of Muslim-Christian Encounters in the Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Mediterranean”", vol. 75, en Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Washington DC, pp. 237-262.
  • PARTEARROYO LACABA, Cristina (2007): "“Tejidos andalusíes”", nº 22, en Artigrama, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, pp. 371-419.
  • PARTEARROYO LACABA, Cristina (1992): "“Almoravid and Almohad Textiles”", DODDS, Jerrilynn D (dir.), Al-Andalus : The art of Islamic Spain, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York, pp. 105-113.
  • RODRÍGUEZ PEINADO, Laura (2022): "“Materialidad de los tejidos medievales de San Isidoro de León: tinte y color”", vol. 95, nº 380, en Archivo Español de Arte, pp. 359-378.
  • RODRÍGUEZ PEINADO, Laura (2020): "“El toque de lo sagrado: los tejidos como reliquias”", ORRIOLS I ALSINA, Anna, CERDÀ, Jordi y DURAN-PORTA, Joan (ed.), Imago & mirabilia: les formes del prodigi a la Mediterrània medieval, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, pp. 247-257.
Record manager
Miguel Hermoso Cuesta
Citation:

Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, "Fragment of the Vestment of Saint Peter of Osma" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/214