Altar frontal - Rose Festive Vestment

This altar frontal, belonging to the rose festive vestment, was made by Filippo Salandri. Together with the purple, this one is perhaps the most elegant of all the festives, due to the delicate contrast established between the rose background and the embroidery in gold. Keeping the general unity of the decorative programme, which makes all the festive sets of the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist apparently very similar, this beautiful vestment finds its originality from a decorative point of view in the variety of details and in its complex articulation. This altar frontal features a series of lace motifs based on typical decorations of the materials of French origin from the 1730’s. The floral motifs go back to either the chinoiseries, or to the more classical ones; a "girandola" of acanthuses together with fringed palms are noteworthy. The rose colour was used to lighten the severity of the penitential liturgical season, namely, the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete) and the fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare).