Tapestry Holy Shroud Of Besançon Christ Bishop Son Gold Silver Flowers 18th

Tapestry, embroidered painting Saint Shroud of Besançon*, first half of the 18th century, embroidery in polychrome silk and gold and silver threads. A mitred bishop flanked by two canons shows the Holy Shroud. Note: some accidents, wear and several holes in the fabric. *Holy Shroud of Besançon A holy shroud appeared in Besançon in 1523, bearing the imprint of the body of the dead Christ. In the registers of Saint-Etienne Cathedral, the canons first evoke an image used as part of a mystery of the Passion, then a relic. Due to the absence of sources describing it before this date, its resemblance to the holy shroud which enjoyed great success at the same time in Chambéry and was the subject of several reproductions, it could be one of these copies produced in the decades 1510 and 1520. Some authors maintain that this shroud would have been found in Franche-Comté from the 15th century, in connection with the Shroud of Lirey which was then recorded there; however, no first-hand document attests to this. According to legend, it was Theodosius II who donated the holy shroud in 445 to Célidoine, archbishop of Besançon. From 1523, the holy shroud was presented to the public each year on Easter and Ascension Day or the following Sunday. Each display attracts up to 30,000 pilgrims. During an episode of plague, in 1544 a plan of the city was offered to the relic and a brotherhood of the Holy Shroud was created. The two annual ostensions are the occasion for great festivities and a lucrative pilgrimage. The shroud was the subject of great veneration in the 17th century, a period of invasions (Ten Years' War) and plague epidemics. The relic is given protective and healing powers, particularly for eye patients. The ecclesiastical archives preserve the trace of the miracles observed. Apart from the ostensions, the shroud has been preserved since 1528 in the tabernacle of which - three monks had the keys - of a chapel of the cathedral then, after the first French conquest, it was transferred in 1669 to the eastern apse of the cathedral Saint-Jean known as the apse of the Holy Shroud. In February 1729, the bell tower of Saint-Jean Cathedral collapsed, causing the destruction of part of the building including the apse of the Holy Shroud. Jean-Pierre Galezot is responsible for the reconstruction of the bell tower and the apse. The shroud is then placed securely at the back of the altar in several chests of which five ecclesiastics hold the different keys. The reconstructed bell tower has four balconies through which the relic is successively presented to the crowd. The Revolution put a brake on this extraordinary devotion. In 1794 the shroud, sent to Paris, was exhibited in session at the National Convention. The minutes of the fifth prairial year II are written as follows: "we are sent not only this elaborate linen and modern work, but also the stencil - cut mold - which was used each year to renew the imprint which we admired miraculous preservation...". Faced with this obvious deception, the revolutionaries refuted the ancient origin of the shroud and ordered its destruction, planning to burn it or transform it into lint for the hospitals of Paris. Although traces of this shroud are lost at this time, its cult still lasts throughout the 19th century. Having only imprecise representations of this second shroud, it is not possible to confirm whether or not it showed bloody traces. We only know that it was a piece of linen measuring 8 by 4 feet (2.6 m by 1.3 m) on which the front side of the elongated body stood out in pale yellow. It therefore did not include two double-sided “head-to-tail” images like on the Shroud of Turin. Some engravings and embroideries representing the Holy Shroud have been preserved among the numerous images produced alongside the cult of the Holy Shroud in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as a painting of the Shroud of Besançon by Claude Bruley in the church of Château-Chalon. Frame: 74 cm by 64 cm Reference: D30 104 All photos are on: www.antiques-delaval.com