Saint Stephan Silk
Description
The mantle of Saint Stephan is dated to the year 1030. or 1031. This richly decorated mantle was a chasuble and only transformed to a mantle in the XIIth century, when it became a coronation item for the Hungarian Kingdom. It was made by the request of Saint Stephan (I. Stephan, the first king of Hungary) and his wife Gisela.
The so called mantle of Saint Stephan
Hunagrian National Museum
During the transformation of the chasuble to a mantle, they reused the original pieces of the chasuble to create parts for the cloak. Our silk piece was part of the cloak's collar. It served as a lining of the collar. Sadly, the original piece was lost in 1867. during the restoration process of the mantle. We know the pattern design only from a drawing.
Piece of the collar of the mantle and the pattern of the lining
The pattern of this piece is a really interesting one, we can find only a few parallel to it. Tere is a stone carving from Stara Zagora (Bulgaria) where such feline creature is present with the same face depiction and tail representation.
Image of a lion, Stara Zagora stone relieves, dated to IX-XI century
Archeology Bulgaria
Mosaics from the Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata, Otranto, Italy.
Date: 1163 (XIIth century)
According to our data, the silk is a Byzantine product and could be dated to the XIth century. It is possible that it was placed to the mantle during its transformation in the XIIth century as well.
Sources:
Archeology Bulgaria
Foedus Orientalis Corpus
Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum: A Nemzeti Múzeumba került a palást töredéke
Pauler Gyula, Szilágyi Sándor (szerk.): A magyar honfoglalás kútfői, 1900
Tóth Endre: A Magyar Szent Korona és a koronázási jelvények, 2018
Artwork: Balázs Szakonyi
Special thanks to: Chiara Gasparini
