Awhile ago we gave a more general view of the treasury museums of the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Spain, including its significant and impressive collection of sacred vestments and other liturgical textiles. Today I wanted to dive into the details of a couple of these vestments, specifically a green 'set' in their collection.
I've put the word 'set' in quotations here because, as you'll see, this is really a case of an earlier chasuble which has then been paired with a later-produced dalmatic and tunicle that has attempted to utilize a similarly colour green/gold textual and mirrored the general style and sense of the chasuble's original orphrey. 
The chasuble itself is boasts a textile that employs the popular a griccia pattern motif of the Renaissance era -- one of the very most popular of that time. The orphrey is set in a beautiful red and contains images of St. John the Baptist, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Jude, St. John the Evangelist and the Madonna and Child.
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| St. Mary Magdalene, shown holding the precious ointment. |
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| St. John the Evangelist, holding the cup of poisoned wine, symbolized by the serpent in the cup. |
The dalmatic and tunicle of the set also employs a gold/green fabric that is defined by flora, fauna and fruits such a pomegranates. The orphrey panels and collarin take up a similar style and palette of that which has been used on the chasuble, but executed in a slightly later style that dates to the seventeenth century. The dalmatic and tunicle each contain a depiction of two of the evangelists per vestments, set within cartouches and complimented by an evocative, scenic background.
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| St. Luke |
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| St. Matthew |
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| Detail of the distinct textile used for the dalmatic and tunicle |
The set is referred to by the monastery as the "Tanto Monta" set and, taken altogether, consists of strong themes related to Christ's apostles and disciples.
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