Attributed to Workshop of Manuel José de Mena Cárdenas
Set of Ecclesiastical Vestments: Cope with Hood (Partes de un terno eclesiástico: Capa pluvial con capucha)circa 1730

Not on view

Gold liturgical cope displayed flat, embroidered overall with large carnations, blue and peach flowers, and green foliage; central orphrey panel with silver tower, cherubs, and gold fringe

Liturgical cope in gold silk brocade, displayed flat to show its full semicircular form, densely embroidered with large polychrome flowers including peonies and thistles, green foliage, and a central basket motif; orphrey border in matching gold with scrolling pattern.

Artist or Maker: Attributed to Workshop of Manuel José de Mena Cárdenas
Mexico, 1711-1752
Title: Set of Ecclesiastical Vestments: Cope with Hood (Partes de un terno eclesiástico: Capa pluvial con capucha)
Place Made: Mexico
Date Made: circa 1730
Medium: Silk satin with silk and metallic-thread embroidery and metallic braid trim
Dimensions: a) Center back length: 53 in. (134.6 cm); b) Center back length: 30 in. (76.2 cm)
Credit Line: Costume Council Fund
Accession Number: M.85.96.7a-b
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 cope, 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), and two dalmatics (M.85.96.8, M.85.96.9)—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. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022

Related Exhibitions

Attributed to Workshop of Manuel José de Mena Cárdenas
Set of Ecclesiastical Vestments: Cope with Hood (Partes de un terno eclesiástico: Capa pluvial con capucha)circa 1730

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Attributed to Workshop of Manuel José de Mena Cárdenas
Mexico, 1711-1752
Title: Set of Ecclesiastical Vestments: Cope with Hood (Partes de un terno eclesiástico: Capa pluvial con capucha)
Place Made: Mexico
Date Made: circa 1730
Medium: Silk satin with silk and metallic-thread embroidery and metallic braid trim
Dimensions: a) Center back length: 53 in. (134.6 cm); b) Center back length: 30 in. (76.2 cm)
Credit Line: Costume Council Fund
Accession Number: M.85.96.7a-b
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 cope, 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), and two dalmatics (M.85.96.8, M.85.96.9)—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. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022