PALIOTTO, detail Sicily, about 1520-1540
Palermo, Cathedral Treasury Detail: 21 x 34 cm. Velvet with applied work of pearls and gold embroidery; gold ornaments of the 13th century. Figures and foliage scrolls in couched work with applied pearls; gold threads laid in pairs, gold cords for the outlines. Faces embroidered with silk. The paliotto was a gift from Archbishop Jean Carandelet (1520-1544) Lit.: E. Steingraber, Antique Jewelry, London 1957, p. 40.

Source: Schuette, Marie and Sigrid Muller-Christensen: Pictorial History of Embroidery ; NY: Frederick Praeger, 1964