Collar of dalmatic

This collar would have complemented a dalmatic, the priestly garment worn by deacons involved in Christian ceremonies. It is made of red silk velvet, to which has been applied a white satin oval embroidered in brown and red. It has lost the cords that were usually attached to the front in order to tie it in place.

It shows the Five Wounds of Christ, or the stigmata. These wounds were the marks from his crucifixion — one to each hand and foot where he was nailed to the cross, and one on his right side where he was pierced with a lance. They drew attention to the suffering he experienced on behalf of mankind.

During the Counter-Reformation from the second half of the 16th century, the Catholic Church encouraged the revitalisation of the arts and in particular their role in arousing intense emotion. In Spain, the country at the forefront of the Counter-Reformation, the Holy Week processions which preceded Easter used a sculpture of Christ crucified and taken down from the cross to produce public fervour among the faithful. The embroidered wounds on this collar are an evocative shorthand for this vivid three-dimensional imagery. A largely illiterate popular audience would have easily understood the reference.