The Bologna cope is decorated with rows illuminating the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary (including the Annunciation, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Presentation in the Temple, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection), but also the journey of the Magi and the death of St. Thomas Becket (1120-1170), who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. The cope also shows a large number of angels playing a vast array of musical instruments.
The cope is a good example of Opus Anglicanum. A particular detal is the simple, chevronned background, while a far more intricate foliate and geometric pattern had been drawn upon the cloth.
See also the Pienza cope
The Bologna cope was on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, for the exhibition 'Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of medieval English embroidery' (1 October 2016 - 5 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, pp. 14, 32, 53, 55, 101 (Catalogue no. 38, pp. 176-179).
- CHRISTIE, A.G.I. (1938), English Medieval Embroidery, Oxford: Claredone Press, pp. 159-161 (no. 86); pls. CXII-CXIII; fig. 133
- COATSWORTH, Elizabeth (2012). 'Bologna Cope', in: Gale Owen-Crocker, Elizabeth Coatsworth and Maria Hayward (eds.), Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles, c. 450-1450, Brill: Leiden, pp. 82-83.
- JOHNSTONE, Pamela (2002). High Fashion in the Church, Leeds: Maney, pp. 41, 49; fig. 37, 38, 43-45.
Digital sources:
- https://ica.princeton.edu/opus-anglicanum/view.php?record_no=498 (retrieved 5 June 2016)
- https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/2928 (retrieved 5 June 2016)
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 5 June 2016)
GVE