medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Apropos of this topic, I direct attention to this recent news
article (reprinted in part), about the silk used in Henry V's
funeral shield (1422). --Al Magary
------
Henry V's funeral shield on show
Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent
The Guardian, Monday September 22, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1046836,00.html
Among the medieval treasures of gold, silver, ivory and gems
being heaped up for a major exhibition on Gothic art at the V&A
Museum is a scruffy object which would not attract attention at
a car boot sale.
Yet the assemblage of wormy lime wood, flaking paint, horsehair
and faded silk is one of the most romantic and enigmatic objects
in the exhibition.
It is the funeral shield of Henry V, the victor of Agincourt.
Kept at Westminster Abbey since his death in 1422, it has been
taken to the V&A for the first close examination in
centuries....
[The reverse of the shield] is covered with some of the oldest
Chinese silk in Europe, of imperial quality, which was already
antique when the shield was made. V&A experts believe the silk
may have been part of a consignment of astounding quality, which
presumably came into northern Europe from Tartar-ruled China
along the ancient Silk Road, in the early 14th century - at a
time when historians had believed the direct trade link was
broken...
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