[499] The collections of needlework in Germany are very rich. The treasury of the cathedral at Halberstadt, the Markt-Kirche of Brunswick, the sacristy of the Marien-Kirche of Dantzic, and that of the Kaland Brethren at Strahlsund are especially quoted by Bock. At Quedlinburg are the tapestries of its famous abbess; at the Pilgrim Church of Marie at Zell are fine remains of stuffs and embroideries by the ladies of the imperial house of Hapsburg, of the thirteenth century; at the Abbey of Göss (near Lieben, Steiermark) is to be seen the remarkable needlework of the Abbess Kunigunda, and in the cathedral treasury of Heidelberg the antipendium of the fourteenth century, made for the church at Tirna. The museums of Berlin, Munich, and Vienna are very rich in textiles.
[500] See Bock’s “Liturgische Gewänder,” p. 133.
[501] Helen Lwyddawc. See “Mabinogion,” by Lady C. Guest, pp. 279-284. This beautiful story is told in the language of the romance period, and yet has a certain Celtic colouring in it, which shows its origin. The ballad opens with a description of Helen watching a game of chess, clothed in white and gold, seated on a chair of gold, when Maxentius finds her in her father’s palace.
[502] See Mrs. Palliser’s “Lace,” p. 4.
[503] See chapter on [English embroidery], post.
[504] Early decorations of ecclesiastical dress are so thoroughly illustrated by the ancient frescoes and mosaics in Italy, that we can form an idea of the embroidered vestments of each period by studying them, and the early illuminated books that are scattered over Europe. Dr. Bock gives authentic illustrations as well as information about the finest Continental specimens.
[505] For the mosaics of Santa Pudenziana, see Woltmann and Woermann, i. p. 167, “History of Painting.” Translated by Sidney Colvin.
[506] [Appendix 4]. Lord Lindsay’s “History of Ecclesiastical Art,” i. p. 136. These gorgeous vestments are engraved by Sulpiz Boisserée in his “Kaiser Dalmatika in der St. Peterskirche,” and far better by Dr. Rock, in his splendid work on the “Coronation Robes of the German Emperors.”
[507] It is singular that we find the starry cross and the swastika filling alternate square spaces on the mantle of Achilles—playing at dice with Ajax—on a celebrated Greek vase in the Etruscan Museum at the Vatican. I have referred to this design elsewhere. (Plate [26].)
[508] Rock’s “Introduction,” p. liii.