The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 29, no. 7 (March, 1971)

medieval ecclesiastical costume, is still unsurpassed. Even
though the book was written as a contribution to the history
of liturgy, it is the prime authority and definitive
work on liturgical dress, for its origin, development, usage,
and symbolism. Vestments are grouped into undergarments,
overgarments, vestments of the head, arms, and
feet, and the insignia. Lists of medieval documentary
sources, inventories, and titles of frequently cited works
are included.
A. G. I. Christie. English Medieval Embroidery (Oxford,
1938), 206 pp. A scholarly, well-illustrated work on
English medieval embroidery fully covering ecclesiastical
vestments. An excellent descriptive catalogue of existing
examples with bibliographical references is the major part
of the book. Names of embroidery workers and embroideries
recorded in medieval documents are listed in
the appendices.
Glossary
The following ecclesiastical vestments are represented
in the current exhibition at The Cloisters and
can be seen in this fifteenth-century Netherlandish
panel painting.
H. J. Clayton. The Ornaments of the Ministers as
Shown on English Monumental Brasses (London, 1919),
192 pp. A practical study of the medieval mass, choir, and
processional vestments that are illustrated on English
monumental brasses representing ecclesiastics. It covers
the period from the latter part of the thirteenth to the
end of the seventeenth century.
Pauline Johnstone. The Byzantine Tradition in Church
Embroidery (Chicago, 1967), 144 pp. One of very few histories
of church embroidery made for liturgical use in the
Greek Orthodox church, covering the period from the
sixth century to the nineteenth. A general description of
vestments, their iconography, -nd the techniques used,
with emphasis on their place in the historical and artistic
background of their time.
Herbert Norris. Church Vestments, Their Origin and
Development (New York, 1950), 190 pp. A history of
ecclesiastical costume from the earliest times up to 1400,
but including many fifteenth-century examples. The vestments
are not listed in alphabetical order but according to
their liturgical significance. The numerous drawings by the
author bring out the essential features of the vestments.
Eugene Augustin Roulin. Vestments and Vesture ...
trans. by Justin McCann (London, 1931), 308 pp. A practical
guide to liturgical vestments and their accessories,
giving an introductory history, but dealing mostly with the
aesthetic value of the shape, design, and ornaments of
the vestments. Illustrations, with a brief explanatory text,
are usually arranged so as to show the contrast between
"good" and "bad" examples of vestments.