Orphrey Band: The Tree of Jesse
1345–1355
- Medium
- Silk, gold and silver thread, linen; embroidery: split and couching stitches
- Dimensions
- Overall: 85.7 x 18.1 cm (33 3/4 x 7 1/8 in.); Mounted: 109.2 x 28.6 cm (43 x 11 1/4 in.)
- Genre
- Embroidery
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
England, 14th century
About
From the 1100s to the 1300s in London, both men and women worked as professional embroiderers. Here, the Tree of Jesse, a favorite medieval theme illustrating the ancestry of Christ, appears as a grapevine with three ancestors—Achim, Ezechias, and Eliud—seated on tendrils. Painters often provided embroiderers with designs, revealing a close relationship between the professions.