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Collections

Attributed to Workshop of Manuel José de Mena Cárdenas
Set of Ecclesiastical Vestments: Dalmatic (Partes de un terno eclesiástico: Dalmática)circa 1730

Not on view
Embroidered short-sleeved robe in golden yellow fabric with polychrome silk floral motifs, metallic lattice borders, and a large central panel featuring a scallop shell cartouche surrounded by coral, blue, and ivory blooms
Embroidered robe laid flat, gold ground densely worked with polychrome silk floral motifs in pink, blue, and green; gold metallic thread borders frame a large central panel on the skirt and decorative bands along the sleeves.
Artist or Maker
Attributed to Workshop of Manuel José de Mena Cárdenas
Mexico, 1711-1752
Title
Set of Ecclesiastical Vestments: Dalmatic (Partes de un terno eclesiástico: Dalmática)
Place Made
Mexico
Date Made
circa 1730
Medium
Silk satin with silk and metallic-thread embroidery and metallic braid trim
Dimensions
Center back length: 44 1/4 in. (112.4 cm)
Credit Line
Costume Council Fund
Accession Number
M.85.96.9
Classification
Costumes
Collecting Area
Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes

Embroidered for Catholic priests, vestments were among the most resplendent art forms of eighteenth-century Mexico. These garments were created as sets in guild workshops led by master craftsmen, as well as by nuns in convents. The quality of the embroidery, alongside the abundant use of silk and gold, reveals the enormous resources invested in their production. Based on designs from Europe and constructed using silk and metallic threads imported from China and Spain, these elaborate vestments embody the intersection of cultures made possible by global trade networks. LACMA’s fine grouping—which includes this dalmatic, plus a chasuble (M.85.96.1), a lectern hanging (M.85.96.2), two stoles (M.85.96.3, M.85.96.4), two collars (M.85.96.5, M.85.96.6), a cope (M.85.96.7), and another dalmatic (M.85.96.8)—bears a striking resemblance to a set preserved in the Puebla Cathedral by the Spanish master embroiderer Manuel José de Mena Cárdenas, which, according to extant documentation, was completed by one Ana Bárbara Quijano (probably of Indigenous or mestizo background) upon his death.

Ilona Katzew

2024

Provenance
Virginia Araciga, c. 1983; Loewi-Robertson Inc., Los Angeles, 1983; LACMA, 1985.
Selected Bibliography
  • Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
Selected Exhibition History
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

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