A Truncated Conical from Atelier Sirio - Perfect for Lent

Atelier Sirio is an Italian vestment maker located in the north of Italy in Bergamo. One of the sets of designs that frequently capture my attention are their medieval inspired works in a form that I am going to call "semi-conical" or "truncated conical," I term it that because they employ a classic medieval orphrey design (one that combines the Tau cross with a y-orphrey) that one typically more often sees on extant medieval conical chasubles than truncated gothic revival forms, with the shape having been cut down from a full conical shape at the arms into a much more practical one than conicals provide (for there is a reason why conicals faded from existence in the life of the church in either East or West and why every attempt at a conical "revival" has failed).

This particular chasuble is in violet of course and as such, its simple, rustic design and construction certainly falls into the vein of the type of thing we saw in the earlier, monastic incarnations of the Liturgical Movement and seems particularly suited to penitential times such as Lent in my estimation.

Photos: Monastere Saint-Benoit

There is a more rustic, penitential ethos about this sort of vestment; one that sets it apart from others in a way consonant with the liturgy in penitential times. 

Of course, while many of our readers naturally gravitate toward more ornamental designs, designs such as this certainly have their place within the "canon" of vestment design and can also help to augment and emphasize other vestments, especially those for more festal times.

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