The Bologna Cope: Patronage, Iconography, History, and Conservation

This second volume in the series Studies in English Medieval Embroidery is dedicated to the Opus Anglicanum Cope of St Domenico, Bologna now housed in the Museo Civico Medievale. Essays are by the Director, curators and conservation staff of the Museo Civico in collaboration with new archival research by leading scholars in the field of textiles and the production of medieval liturgical vestments. It is edited by Dr. M.A. Michael, head of the Opus Anglicanum Project at the University of Glasgow. This volume presents the first detailed investigation of the iconographical cycle depicted on the cope and provides new evidence for dating which places the Bologna Cope within the short-lived patronage of Pope Benedict XI before 1304. A comprehensive investigation of the archival materials relating to the Cope and its rediscovery in the 19th century is also accompanied by a detailed historiography of the literature and exhibition history of the cope and an account of the challenges faced during its recent conservation.