Veil or Tunic (’camisia’) of the Virgin

ca.

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Title
Veil or Tunic ('camisia') of the Virgin
Contributor
Colum P. Hourihane (contributor)
University of Pittsburgh (depositor)
Contributor
Colum P. Hourihane
Date
ca.
Identifier
FCWOR0010010
Description
This is the most precious relic owned by the cathedral of Chartres. It is a piece of cloth originally approximately is 3.25 yards long by 2 yards wide, though it is now in several pieces, having been torn apart during the French Revolution. In the medieval sources it is referred to as the ‘camisia,’ suggesting ‘tunic’ or 'shift’ in English, ‘chemise’ in French. It was through to have been part of a garment worn by the Virgin Mary at the Nativity of Christ. It was said to have been given by Charles the Bald in 876, though there is no mention of it until the 11th century account of its miraculous intervention at the siege of Chartres by the Normans in 911. The relic is depicted in the form of a tunic on the seal of the cathedral and on pilgrim’s badges. A shrine to contain the relic, the 9th c. Byzantine embroidered cloth in which it was wrapped, a 6th c. manuscript of St. John’s Gospel (now Paris, BNF lat. 10439), and relics of St Lubin,was made in the late 10th c. by a craftsman named Teudo. Destroyed at the revolution, the shrine is known from an engraving of 1697 by Nicolas de Larmessin at the Archives diocésaines de Chartres. The present reliquary of the ‘camisia’ dates from 1876.; 19th c. reliquary containing the ‘camisia’ relic
Type
still image
Genre
photographs
Subject
Cathédrale de Chartres--Pictorial works.
Church decoration and ornament--France--Chartres--Pictorial works.
Church architecture--France--Chartres--Pictorial works.
Christian art and symbolism--France--Chartres--Medieval, 500-1500--Pictorial works.
Geographic Subjects
France
Chartres
Collection
Chartres: Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Contributor
University of Pittsburgh
Rights Information
Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
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