0:00:11 > 0:00:16For much of the Middle Ages, England excelled at ecclesiastical art.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Our religious wall paintings, stained glass,
0:00:19 > 0:00:24church sculpture and carvings were amongst the finest in Europe.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26But there's a forgotten art,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29of which we were the very best in the Western world -
0:00:29 > 0:00:32the art of embroidery.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33For almost 300 years,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37the work of English embroiderers was sought all over Christendom.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42The extraordinary Bayeux Tapestry showed what we were capable of,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46but it was just a hint of the glories to come.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50And when the fanaticism of the Reformation engulfed England,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53and so much of our religious art was destroyed,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57it was the sumptuous embroidered vestments of the church
0:00:57 > 0:01:00which were easily rolled up and spirited away.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Now the best medieval English embroidery is abroad,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06or has only been brought back to the UK in modern times.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13This is the unsung story of English embroidery, of a golden age,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15and how, against all the odds,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18some of the greatest masterpieces survived.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24It's almost as if this whole piece has been signed with a needle,
0:01:24 > 0:01:25"This is from England."
0:01:27 > 0:01:30You almost want to stroke it, touch it,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32but...absolutely forbidden.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37The English elevated the craft of embroidery
0:01:37 > 0:01:42into an art of stunning realism and emotion. This is deliberate.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46This is designed to shock, to scare, to intimidate.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Fragile and faded, English embroidery gives us
0:01:53 > 0:01:56an extraordinary glimpse into the medieval world.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38These days, everyone's well-dressed,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41particularly, it seems, here in Rome.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45But 700-800 years ago, fine clothing was a rarity,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47afforded only to the rich.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Medieval English embroidery was nothing short of pure luxury,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54famed and desired across Europe.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57In the inventories of castles, palaces and cathedrals,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00it was referred to as Opus Anglicanum.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Simply put - English work.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10The greatest patron of Opus Anglicanum was the Catholic Church.
0:03:10 > 0:03:16For more than 200 years, from the early 1100s until the middle of the 14th century,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20English embroiderers were as highly sought-after
0:03:20 > 0:03:22as the best architects, sculptors and painters
0:03:22 > 0:03:23that Europe had to offer.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33In the Medieval period, most people couldn't read,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36so the look of the liturgy was paramount.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Religious vestments - especially the cope, a bishop's outer cloak -
0:03:42 > 0:03:45needed to evoke the Majesty of Christ.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49But over the centuries, the cope evolved
0:03:49 > 0:03:52into an illuminated manuscript in fabric,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54depicting scenes from the life of Christ
0:03:54 > 0:03:59and the lives of the Saints - a visual sermon in stitchwork.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06In the Archbasilica of St John Lateran in Rome,
0:04:06 > 0:04:11fragile and faded, kept in gloomy conditions behind protective glass,
0:04:11 > 0:04:16is a masterpiece of embroidery, dating back almost 700 years.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22It's the Lateran Cope.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25It's the first time I've seen it, and I've got to say,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27it's absolutely astonishing.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29It's almost bewildering.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33And it's not just the fineness of the detail, the craftsmanship,
0:04:33 > 0:04:34this combination of taste
0:04:34 > 0:04:40and piety and ostentation...it's actually the scale of the thing.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43What we've got to remember is, this isn't just a piece of art -
0:04:43 > 0:04:44it's designed to be worn.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48It's a processional cape for the church's top brass.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51I mean, I'm reasonably tall,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55and I've got to stretch on tiptoes just to reach the top of it.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58And what we can see here is the ophrey at the top.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59This would have hung down here
0:04:59 > 0:05:03while the rest of the piece just enveloped whoever was wearing it.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07In fact, if you come in closely here, you can see there's some wear,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10and that would have come from the right shoulder of the man
0:05:10 > 0:05:14lucky enough to be enveloped by this piece.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16There's some fantastically rich imagery here.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20We have - it's hard to know where to start - down the back here,
0:05:20 > 0:05:25this would've been on the broad of the shoulders, trailing down behind whoever was wearing it,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28the centrepiece, obviously the crucifixion here.
0:05:30 > 0:05:36And down here, we've got this... It's almost like a cartoon strip...
0:05:36 > 0:05:38We have the annunciation, the nativity,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43the adoration of kings. It's telling a story as it sweeps past.
0:05:43 > 0:05:49All the wear and tear on the piece is here on the fringe at the bottom.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53And so we can imagine that's where it's worn away as it's just
0:05:53 > 0:05:56flowed behind whoever was wearing it, dragging on the ground.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59This was something that was used, it was processional -
0:05:59 > 0:06:04you can imagine the gold glinting in the light, candlelight, or out in the street.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09Over here what captures my eye, we have these griffins,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13these little griffins just here, I really like those.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Over here, we've got angels, but here we have the lives
0:06:17 > 0:06:21of the saints, so here we have St Andrew martyred on his cross here.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25But this is what's really interesting. This is St Edmund of Bury.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27He's been martyred,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31he's been killed in 869 by the Great Viking heathen army,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35killed for refusing to renounce Christianity.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39And they're firing arrows into him. One, two, three, four,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43five arrows, and they also cut his head off, just to be sure.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45But his presence here's important,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49because it's a clue about the origins of the cope.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51St Edmund wasn't very well-known outside England,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55so the fact that he's here tells us that this is English work.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03English embroiderers had immense technical prowess.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07They gave the human body a naturalism that brought
0:07:07 > 0:07:10stories of Christ and the saints to life.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19And the human face, so often inscrutable in Gothic art,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24acquired a new emotional realism in the hands of English embroiderers.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Round the corner, at the Vatican museum,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32is another survival of Opus Anglicanum,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37where the human drama of the crucifixion is at its most moving.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Sometimes today we think of embroidery as a craft or a hobby,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53something that's done by ladies of leisure.
0:07:53 > 0:07:54But this is art.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58The intricacy, the design,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00the faces we can see, the colours throughout...
0:08:00 > 0:08:02we've got the gold thread, and silver thread.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06It's like painting with a needle.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Back in Britain, near Westminster Abbey, I'm on my way
0:08:37 > 0:08:40to one of London's oldest ecclesiastical outfitters.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44The cope was part of a whole liturgical wardrobe
0:08:44 > 0:08:46that I need to understand.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Modern religious vestments may no longer be covered in dense embroidery,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55but they still seek to transform the wearer
0:08:55 > 0:08:57and send a message to the faithful.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04The religious vestments of Opus Anglicanum are too delicate
0:09:04 > 0:09:07even to touch, so this is the closest I'm going to get.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14So the first thing that goes on is this, called an amice.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16It was basically a neck cloth,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21- but it goes over your head to start with.- Let's get it on, then.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22All right.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25OK.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29I feel slightly like Little Bo Peep.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I won't say you look like Little Bo Peep!
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Thank you very much. You've knocked my confidence now!
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Next thing is the alb.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43This is this all-enveloping white garment here. In you go.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46- In I go? Just diving in? - Just diving in. Come on.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Oh, it's big!
0:09:48 > 0:09:52- I told you it's all-enveloping! - It really is!
0:09:52 > 0:09:54The next thing that goes on is
0:09:54 > 0:09:57the rope tie, the girdle, or sincture.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Do bishops these days have buckles? Or still ropes?
0:10:02 > 0:10:04No, no, no, they still use this.
0:10:04 > 0:10:05To a very large extent,
0:10:05 > 0:10:11this is still the full kit which they would put on.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16OK. I really feel I'm beginning to transform. Is that...
0:10:16 > 0:10:20That's what it's all about - it's all about transformation,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24taking you from being an ordinary person walking around the street
0:10:24 > 0:10:28to become, in a sense, a special person
0:10:28 > 0:10:31that's going to perform the great miracle
0:10:31 > 0:10:38of transubstantiation - which is in a sense the ultimate transformation.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41So in a sense, the transformation of the robes
0:10:41 > 0:10:44mirrors the transubstantiation...
0:10:44 > 0:10:48You can't do that unless you are a completely different person.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Well, I'm starting to feel like a completely different person.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57Next thing on, the stole, and you see, all of that would have been
0:10:57 > 0:11:00accompanied by a whole series of prayers.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02You don't just sling this on?
0:11:02 > 0:11:04- No, no, no, no. - You're really thinking about it.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06With the girdle, for example,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08the prayer that goes with putting that on is,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11"Gird me about oh Lord with the sincture of purity
0:11:11 > 0:11:16"and quench in my heart the fire of concupancy
0:11:16 > 0:11:21"and the virtue of constancy and chastity may abide in me."
0:11:21 > 0:11:26Next, this is very much a medieval thing, which is the dalmatic.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27It's a coloured version of the alb, really.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31I presume you get more elegant as you get more experienced.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36You do, yes. Last things last, this is the chasuble.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40This is the maniple, OK?
0:11:41 > 0:11:48This finally comes off, and that forms a collar.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50I've no idea what I look like, but I feel quite smart.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52You look terribly medieval.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56- I do?- Yes!- I feel good about that, but there's something missing.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01There's something missing - the mitre! Are you ready for this?
0:12:01 > 0:12:03- I've been waiting all my life, I think.- OK.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09- There you go.- Wow.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11- OK. Are you ready?- I think so.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19I am almost speechless! This is quite incredible.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22I honestly feel like a different person.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I've never worn anything quite like this, I think it's fair to say!
0:12:25 > 0:12:28So when would I have worn this?
0:12:28 > 0:12:31As a bishop you would have worn that when you were celebrating mass,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35but then again, as a bishop, you wouldn't necessarily always be celebrating mass,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38and when you didn't, you'd wear the cope.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42- Ah. Well, can I try it on? - OK. Let's have a go with that.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- Off with the hat. - My favourite bit.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47OK.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Oh, goodness. That's a lot heavier. What's this made of?
0:12:58 > 0:13:03- This one's made of velvet.- It's a lot heavier than the chasuble.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Mustn't forget the mitre.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11- That's it.- Tell me, what's it made up of?
0:13:11 > 0:13:18What you've got is in origin, a raincoat, and what we've got on the back is what's left of the hood
0:13:18 > 0:13:20that would have originally gone over your head.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23And on the front, these panels here are called the ophreys.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27They would have been used again for embroidery,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31and they would be images of saints or scenes from the life of Christ.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34So as well as looking rather grand,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37I'm telling people about the history and stories of the church.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Absolutely. You'd be a bit like a stained glass window.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Well, David, thank you very much.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47It's a real insight into how Opus Anglicanum and all the rest of these vestments would have been used.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49- This has been terrific. Thank you. - It's been a great pleasure.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59The medieval English Church was an enormous power in the land,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04richer and often more influential than the King.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06It could afford to commission the best painters,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10the best embroiderers, the finest materials.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13But not all embroidery was about the lives of the saints.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Some celebrated the power of the sword,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18the age of chivalry.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31In the town of Maaseik, on the German-Belgian border,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34the earliest examples of English embroidery survive.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40Over 1,000 years old, these fragments are a mystery.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44No-one knows whether they were secular or religious,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47what they were part of, or indeed, what they were for.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51We need to move forward 200 years
0:14:51 > 0:14:56to encounter a piece of English embroidery whose message is unmistakable.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00The Bayeux Tapestry commemorates the most significant moment
0:15:00 > 0:15:02in English medieval history,
0:15:02 > 0:15:03but if its narrative is clear,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07it has given rise to the biggest misunderstanding
0:15:07 > 0:15:09in the history of embroidery.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16First things, first. The Bayeux Tapestry isn't a tapestry.
0:15:16 > 0:15:17It's an embroidery.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20A tapestry is woven on a loom.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23An embroidery is stitched. You need a needle and thread!
0:15:23 > 0:15:25And it's not even French.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27It might celebrate the Norman invasion,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31but academics think it was made in England and specifically in Kent.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Incredibly fragile, the 1,000-year-old Bayeux Tapestry
0:15:37 > 0:15:43is entombed in a hi-tech case with low level lighting to match.
0:15:43 > 0:15:50It's 230 foot long and commemorates the Battle of Hastings in 1066,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and the invasion of England by William of Normandy.
0:15:53 > 0:16:00Made of dyed woollen yarn on linen, it's thought to have taken seven years to complete.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05It's an astonishing piece of work that tells a dramatic story.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07From the details of feeding an army
0:16:07 > 0:16:10and transporting horses across the English Channel,
0:16:10 > 0:16:15the makers of this tapestry wanted to preach a particular version of history.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21The brilliant victory of William climaxing in the death
0:16:21 > 0:16:25of King Harold and the conquest of England.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34The Bayeux Tapestry may look naive in places, even unsophisticated,
0:16:34 > 0:16:40but it set an English fashion for using embroidery to communicate a powerful message.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Now, we'll probably never know who designed the Bayeux Tapestry.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50But we're almost certain that it was women who embroidered it.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53And that's because around the time of 1066 and all that,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57embroidery was a pious and acceptable occupation for women.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Even very well-off ladies did it.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03We know that Canut the Great's wife embroidered altar cloths,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Edward the Confessor's wife embroidered his clothes.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09The English already had a reputation.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12One French writer wrote shortly after the Conquest,
0:17:12 > 0:17:17"The women of England are very skilled with the needle."
0:17:17 > 0:17:21So around the 11th and early 12th century, women were devoting
0:17:21 > 0:17:24a considerable amount of their time to this art,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27but it was men who were paying for it.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28And they could afford to do this
0:17:28 > 0:17:32because parts of England were awash with money.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And nowhere was richer than Canterbury,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42the mother church of England.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Here, by the 12th century, the Archbishop was dressing
0:17:47 > 0:17:50in the very finest clothing money could buy.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53And that, of course, meant English embroidery.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00The proof can be found in some extraordinary ecclesiastical slippers and boots.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07Hidden away in the Cathedral archives, rarely seen or exposed to daylight,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11today they're coming out of their protective wrappings.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Well, wow!
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Now, this is a very early example of Opus Anglicanum
0:18:21 > 0:18:23on a religious vestment.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27These are buskins and slippers, so they're a bishop's footwear,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30and what's remarkable about them is that they were actually
0:18:30 > 0:18:33worn by a bishop, and we know which bishop -
0:18:33 > 0:18:35it was an archbishop, Hubert Walter,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37the Archbishop of Canterbury,
0:18:37 > 0:18:42who was around in 1200, about the time of Richard the Lionheart and bad King John.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Now, these may be religious vestments,
0:18:44 > 0:18:49but what's really striking about them is that the subject matter is very much secular.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53So here on the buskins we have crosses, but we also have eagles,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57we have stars, we have dots, and more crosses on the feet.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04But on the slippers, little fleur de leys,
0:19:04 > 0:19:09we have these garnets running around the top,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12these dragons here,
0:19:12 > 0:19:17and I really love the lions on the side here.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23But what's also interesting is that they were made only a century after
0:19:23 > 0:19:28the Bayeux Tapestry, and already we can see the style evolving.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31So we have much finer needlework.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Silk used here instead of wool.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39We've got gilt here on the eagle that we can still see glinting.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43And what's extraordinary to think as we sit here looking at these is
0:19:43 > 0:19:47just how much more money was spent on Opus Anglicanum in years to come.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01The creation of ever more fantastic religious clothing
0:20:01 > 0:20:06in the 13th century happened during a boom time for England.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10The city of London had never known such an energetic age of trade
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and commerce.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17The boom was based on the export of wool and English sheep,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20who were reputed to produce the best wool.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Selling wool to the Continent allowed England to trade in gold,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26silk and precious jewels -
0:20:26 > 0:20:29key ingredients to make the finest embroidery.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39In 1271, an altar front for Westminster Abbey took four women
0:20:39 > 0:20:41nearly four years to embroider.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44The bill back then was £36.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45But based on average earnings,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48that's a staggering half a million pounds today.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52And that's before paying for the gold, silk, pearls,
0:20:52 > 0:20:54garnets and enamels.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59So producing embroidery was big, big money and consequently,
0:20:59 > 0:21:00there was profit to be made.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08The best embroiderers worked here in the City of London,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11where all aspects of trade were regulated by the Guilds.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14They imposed quality control
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and a monopoly grip to ensure the best trading terms.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23So the fishmongers were down by the river, near London Bridge.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28The merchant tailors, obviously, were on Threadneedle Street.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Just off Cheapside, the goldsmiths and silversmiths.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34And cheek by jowl with them, the broderers.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36These were the streets where England's finest
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and most desirable luxury goods were painstakingly crafted.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45And it was the Borderers Guild
0:21:45 > 0:21:49that ensured English embroidery was the best.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Apprentices served seven years to learn their craft.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Pieces like this could only be produced by embroiderers
0:22:04 > 0:22:08working in daylight, with the highest grade silk and gold thread.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Central to the quality of English work was
0:22:13 > 0:22:17the precision of the stitchwork and the density.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Covering every inch of the fabric
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and yet allowing a flexibility to the finished garment.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27It was all down to two extraordinary stitches that became
0:22:27 > 0:22:30the signature of Opus Anglicanum.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34And set English embroiderers apart from the rest of Europe.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49I'm on my way to the Royal School of Embroidery
0:22:49 > 0:22:52at Hampton Court Palace to see how it's done.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00First, the split stitch, where the needle turns back on itself,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04coming back up through the previous stitch and splitting the thread.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07It gives the stitching absolute precision.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13It's quite a basic principle. So I'm doing a stitch, really tiny.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Bringing my needle up through that stitch and splitting it in half.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20So you just have to make sure you split it each time,
0:23:20 > 0:23:22so you've got a continuous line then.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26And what's the point of split stitch? Why do it?
0:23:26 > 0:23:29It just makes it a very, very solid and dense area.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Everything is joined together.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36And is there something you can do with split stitch that other stitches simply can't achieve?
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Because of the way the stitches are worked,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42it actually looks like it's shaded because it's tight in the middle.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45It goes round and round, so it looks like it's got shading to it
0:23:45 > 0:23:48and that's purely just the stitch. So there's no colour.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51These round stitches on the cheek, that's what's giving us that effect.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Yeah. Would you like to have a little go of this one here?
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Absolutely. Yeah. I'm sure I'm going to be a master at this(!)
0:23:57 > 0:24:00- So what am I doing?- Right hand underneath.- Right hand underneath?
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Yeah. Left hand on top, that's it. So you want to do a tiny little stitch.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06- Just here?- Yeah.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08And then using your right hand, pull the needle through.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Oh, so it's two-handed, I see.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14- Let go now on this hand.- Let go. - Try and split that stitch.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18- I've sort of lost where my initial stitch was.- Cos it's so tiny, yeah.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21I've got pretty good eyesight, but this is difficult.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26- This is really... Ah! There we go. - That's it. Pull through.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33- Bit wonky, but...- It's all right. - You think I've got promise?
0:24:33 > 0:24:36- It's all right. Yeah, definitely. - Yeah?- Yeah.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40- Just a matter of practice, right? - A lot of practice.- A lot of practice!
0:24:40 > 0:24:41OK.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45That's taken me about 20 seconds to do my first stitch.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49How long did it take you to do what we've got so far on this face?
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- About six hours' work so far on here.- Six hours?
0:24:52 > 0:24:57- Just to do this cheek...?- Yeah.- Do you ever get really frustrated and just throw it all up in the air?- No.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01You must be a very even-tempered person. I'm already feeling like...
0:25:03 > 0:25:06'The split stitch is the secret behind the subtle
0:25:06 > 0:25:11'three-dimentional impression on human faces in Opus Anglicanum.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14'As the cheek work spirals to its centre,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17'almost a painterly light and shade is the result.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23'But it was the second technique, underside couching, that allowed
0:25:23 > 0:25:26'a thick surface intensity of gold thread,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30'together with a flexibility, suitable for clothing.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35'The heavy gold thread is held in place on the fabric's surface
0:25:35 > 0:25:39'by a second thread made of linen.'
0:25:40 > 0:25:44This is underside couching, so this is gold.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46- Gold?- Yes.- Wow!
0:25:46 > 0:25:49- OK, so what's the difference? - Well, two parts.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52So they would have had silk embroidery and also,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54they would have had gold on the same piece.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57So we're using thread which has got real gold in it.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59- So this is real gold? - It's got real gold in there.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01- Is it solid gold thread? How do you...?- It's...
0:26:01 > 0:26:03If I just break a bit from the end...
0:26:03 > 0:26:05It's actually gold around the outside.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09You can see it's got a silk or cotton core in the middle there.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12It's wrapped around. And that just makes it a bit more flexible.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15- It's actually quite a flexible thread. - Why do you need to be so flexible?
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Because we're going to take a little bit of the gold through to the back
0:26:19 > 0:26:23and that's what is special about underside couching.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27If you just had your gold on the top, it makes it very solid
0:26:27 > 0:26:30and inflexible. And because these things were used as vestments,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33so they were worn, you wanted it to be a little bit more flowing.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Let me get my hands on it then.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Right. So I'm going to bring up the needle in the right position for you.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40OK. Thank you.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44- So needle in your right hand. - Right hand, OK.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47And with your left hand, you want to have a bit of tension on there.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51- That's it.- I see. - What you're doing now is you're creating a hole by holding
0:26:51 > 0:26:53- that quite taut.- Yes.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56And you should be able to just about see a little space where the
0:26:56 > 0:26:58thread's coming out. So you want your needle down.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01- We're going back the way we came. - That's it.- Is that about right.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03- Yeah.- I feel like I'm a natural.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06- So, right hand is now pulling the needle through.- Yes.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09You can let go of your left hand.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13- This is quite hard. - It's very hard. It's quite tough.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15- Does it hurt your fingers?- Yes. As this linen thread comes through,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19it will take a bit of the gold with it and you should be able to hear it.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23- And what happens if...? - POP
0:27:23 > 0:27:25- Did you hear that?- I heard it. I heard it pop.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29- That's it.- What happens if I were to break this thread now?
0:27:29 > 0:27:32If you break the gold thread, you'd have to take out the entire row.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36- That would be incredible frustrating.- That WOULD be. So let's not do that.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39How often does that happen? With you? Not at all, I'm sure!
0:28:01 > 0:28:03At the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06there's a small piece of ecclesiastical embroidery
0:28:06 > 0:28:09that has some of the finest stitchwork to survive.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14All the trademarks of the best of Opus Anglicanum.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19Split stitching in the fine details of the faces.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Underside couching for the rich gold thread background.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28This is an ecclesiastical burse.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Originally, it would have been folded down the middle,
0:28:32 > 0:28:34to form the bag that held the Corporal,
0:28:34 > 0:28:38the cloth that the Chalice is placed on during Mass.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43The quality of the embroidery on this is just unbelievable.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46It looks impressive by the naked eye,
0:28:46 > 0:28:48but when you get under the magnifying glass,
0:28:48 > 0:28:53what you can see is that each stitch is absolutely perfect.
0:28:53 > 0:28:59And if we look at the Virgin here, she has really feminine features.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01And then if we move over to Christ on the cross here,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04the hair is what impressed me. The hair has been done...
0:29:04 > 0:29:06It really has the texture of hair.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11It's astonishing this has been done with a needle.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14When we get to his abdomen, he has six pack abs.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18This is anatomically correct.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22The stitching is circular and very tight.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27I'm amazed to see this on something that's from the early 14th century.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29And then we move across to this scene here
0:29:29 > 0:29:33and this is coronation of the Virgin in Heaven.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35And originally, I wasn't sure
0:29:35 > 0:29:39whether this was God the Father or God the Son who was crowning
0:29:39 > 0:29:45her, but if we look really closely here, his hands...
0:29:45 > 0:29:49..and his feet, we can actually see the stigmata, the wounds.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52There's been...red...
0:29:52 > 0:29:55There are red stitches coming through each of his hands
0:29:55 > 0:29:57and his feet.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00Just within this little outline, the quality and the depth
0:30:00 > 0:30:04and the fineness of the work on this piece is just phenomenal.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26Trade with Italy took many of the finest examples of English
0:30:26 > 0:30:32embroidery abroad and today, it's where most Opus Anglicanum survives.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35To the best dressed Italian clerics,
0:30:35 > 0:30:40owning vestments made in England was a mark of piety and sophistication.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46I'm heading for the romantic setting of Ascoli Piceno,
0:30:46 > 0:30:50a fine Renaissance town, built out of the local marble.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01Many vestments, copes and chasubles were commissioned specifically
0:31:01 > 0:31:06by the popes, but others were made as gifts to curry political favour.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10In fact, by 1295, the Vatican inventory lists no fewer
0:31:10 > 0:31:14than 80 separate pieces of Opus Anglicanum.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17And here, in Ascoli Piceno on Italy's east coast, is
0:31:17 > 0:31:19a particularly splendid example,
0:31:19 > 0:31:24which oddly was used to fund part of this fantastic cathedral.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34For centuries, the Cope here was kept here at the local cathedral.
0:31:34 > 0:31:39But these days, it enjoys a safer home at the town's civic museum.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Because even here in Italy,
0:31:41 > 0:31:46many English copes did not enjoy a trouble-free history.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50It's not just the ravages of decay that have taken their toll,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54but the extravagance of the work that was an everlasting temptation.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09Unmistakeably English. How do we know?
0:32:09 > 0:32:11Well, if we look at the technical details, all over,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15there's a huge amount of gilt threads surviving
0:32:15 > 0:32:18and it's the underside couching that's very typical of English work.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21We also have split stitch on the clothes
0:32:21 > 0:32:23and where it survives on the faces.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27The faces themselves, the details and expressions feel very English.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29But if that's not enough,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33what we also have on the clothes of the characters all over this
0:32:33 > 0:32:35cope and particularly down here,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39the Virgin Mary, we have these lions, passant guardant.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43And that's the English royal symbol.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47It's almost as if this whole piece has been signed with a needle -
0:32:47 > 0:32:49this is from England.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54What we don't have along the ophrey at the top
0:32:54 > 0:32:58here are the hundreds of pearls which were once attached.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02They were sold in 1798 to fund the building which we've just
0:33:02 > 0:33:05seen round the corner, the Capella del Sacrementa.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09But what I find really interesting is that each of these circles
0:33:09 > 0:33:12shows a scene from the life of a different pope.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17I like to call it the "Pope Cope". They're quite carefully arranged.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21So along the top, we have the early popes,
0:33:21 > 0:33:23all of whom have been martyred.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27On the middle row, the subject matter changes.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31And these are all popes who are famed for their interpretation
0:33:31 > 0:33:32of scriptures.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36Down the bottom is where it gets really interesting.
0:33:36 > 0:33:41These were all popes who were alive at around the time this piece
0:33:41 > 0:33:47was made, mid-13th century. And the really intriguing one is down here.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49This is Clement IV.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54And he gives us a clue as to the whole provenance of this
0:33:54 > 0:33:56piece of English work.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00We think this cope was commissioned by Ottobono Frieschi,
0:34:00 > 0:34:04who was a cardinal legate sent to England by Clement IV.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08He was sent to make peace between Henry III
0:34:08 > 0:34:10and his rebellious barons and bishops.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13And it's likely that Ottobono commissioned
0:34:13 > 0:34:16this as a political gift for his master.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19And it seems like it worked because a few years later,
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Ottobono was Pope himself, as Hadrian V.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31But the story of this Cope doesn't end there.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34If copes were extremely valuable in the Middle Ages,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37by the 20th century, they were worth a small fortune.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45Easily wrapped up and spirited away, the Ascoli Piceno Cope
0:34:45 > 0:34:50mysteriously disappeared from the local cathedral in 1902.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54Two years later,
0:34:54 > 0:34:58the missing Cope was spotted on display on London at the V&A,
0:34:58 > 0:35:02where it had been loaned by its owner, or so he thought,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04the American banker JP Morgan.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06There was a huge public outcry.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Scandal, ruined reputations,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10even reports that the guy who'd fenced it
0:35:10 > 0:35:13had killed himself in prison.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17Happily, in 1907, JP Morgan bequeathed it and it came home.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20But you'll notice it's here, in the Civic Museum,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23and not across the road in the cathedral.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25You almost get the feeling the locals
0:35:25 > 0:35:27didn't quite trust the priests any more.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39The joy of a life lived according to Christian principles
0:35:39 > 0:35:43inspired many of the English cope makers to depict images of beauty -
0:35:43 > 0:35:47scenes of redemption to lift people's religious imagination.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51But in the lives of the saints, there were also dire warnings
0:35:51 > 0:35:55that a Christian life could mean suffering and pain.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59There were no newspapers in the Middle Ages.
0:35:59 > 0:36:00So the best way to get across
0:36:00 > 0:36:03any political, social or religious message
0:36:03 > 0:36:05was through public spectacle.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09For the church, the most important message was the life of Christ.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11So in religious art from the period,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15we see the Nativity, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17But there were other stories, too,
0:36:17 > 0:36:19particularly the lives of the saints.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21And it's when we start to understand these,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25we realise what the people who wore and saw all this refinery
0:36:25 > 0:36:27were really thinking.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Bologna in northern Italy -
0:36:34 > 0:36:37in the city museum is one of the best preserved pieces
0:36:37 > 0:36:39of Opus Anglicanum.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41But to save its delicate colours,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44it hangs in a basement in sepulchral gloom.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09This is the Bologna Cope.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11And I could stand in front of it all day
0:37:11 > 0:37:13because what this cope does
0:37:13 > 0:37:17is take us directly into the medieval religious mindset.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20It's constructed very carefully.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26There are two, almost, strips, almost like comic strips, here.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28And they're telling us particular stories,
0:37:28 > 0:37:29both from the life of Christ.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32And they're the two most important stories from the life of Christ.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35We start on this outer semicircle, here...
0:37:37 > 0:37:40..with the story of Christ's birth.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42And it goes chronologically.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45So up here we have the archangel Gabriel appearing
0:37:45 > 0:37:47to the Virgin Mary
0:37:47 > 0:37:50and he's holding something that says Ave Maria.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54And here we have the second really big story in the Christian calendar
0:37:54 > 0:37:57and it's Christ's death - his Passion, his crucifixion.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01And I want to pick out a few details, here.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06If we come down, this is the shepherds.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09They're being spoken to by the angel and he's pointing at the star.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11Everything is in this fine detail.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15But what we can see is there are two sheep beneath them,
0:38:15 > 0:38:17one of the shepherds is playing an instrument
0:38:17 > 0:38:19that looks like a bagpipe.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23The artist has been very, very careful about what he's done here.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27I think you can imagine the people seeing this,
0:38:27 > 0:38:30feeling like it related to their own lives.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34And that is what medieval religion and spectacle is all about.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36There's something else that I find fascinating.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Oh, these angels are absolutely delightful.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Each of them is playing a different instrument.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45So one of them's playing a harp, one of them's playing a pipe, here.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Anyone who'd ever heard music, played music,
0:38:49 > 0:38:52would be able almost to hear the music of the angels playing.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55It's so specifically and deliberately, beautifully done.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07But the Bologna Cope has a dark side -
0:39:07 > 0:39:11an embroidered vision designed not just to inspire
0:39:11 > 0:39:12but to instil fear.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19This is one of the most horrible images on this whole cope.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21It's the massacre of the innocent.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24And we have this awful image of a soldier
0:39:24 > 0:39:27with his spear thrust through a child, waving it aloft.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31And here, I mean, a truly horrific image.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34It's a woman holding the severed head of her child.
0:39:35 > 0:39:36And that chimes up here
0:39:36 > 0:39:39when we have the story of Christ's Passion.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41We have this hell mouth
0:39:41 > 0:39:44and this beastly mouth sort of roars open
0:39:44 > 0:39:46and within it, we have these sinners -
0:39:46 > 0:39:49pleading towards Christ, desperate for release.
0:39:51 > 0:39:52This is deliberate.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56This is designed to shock, to scare, to intimidate,
0:39:56 > 0:39:59to fill people with the horror and the majesty of God.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09To medieval eyes, the jaws of hell would have been unmistakable.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12A life of sin guaranteeing an afterlife of eternal torment
0:40:12 > 0:40:15in the sulphurous fires of hell.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18And of course, as ever,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21the embroiderers haven't been able to resist
0:40:21 > 0:40:23leaving an English signature.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28Now, this cope tells us principally about the life of Christ.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32But here we have St Thomas, or to us Thomas Becket.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37Here he is on what would have been the right front of the cope.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41And his story follows on from that of Christ's birth,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45right through to the epiphany. And yet, here is Becket.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47He has nothing to do with the rest of this story.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49This is the story from 1170 -
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Becket was killed in his own cathedral by four knights acting,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56or acting so they thought, on the orders of King Henry II.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Becket's presence on this cope tells us
0:40:59 > 0:41:02something important about the place of martyrdom.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04Martyrdom is something great,
0:41:04 > 0:41:06martyrdom is something holy,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09martyrdom is something that is almost the pinnacle
0:41:09 > 0:41:11of religious nobility.
0:41:12 > 0:41:13So what do we have?
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Well, we have the liturgical seasons - the life of Christ.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21We have music, we have colour, we have redemption, we have hell,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24we have pain, we have gold.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27I think everything you need to know
0:41:27 > 0:41:29about Christian belief in the Middle Ages
0:41:29 > 0:41:30is here in this cope.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41Back at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
0:41:41 > 0:41:45is one of the few pieces in Britain to rival the finest in Italy.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50Even so, what you see today has had to be patched together.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Because in spite of its vibrant colour,
0:41:52 > 0:41:57this cope has had a particularly rough ride through history.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10This beautiful cope was made sometime between 1330 and 1350,
0:42:10 > 0:42:12at the absolute zenith of Opus Anglicanum.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16And I've been lucky enough to be allowed inside the display case
0:42:16 > 0:42:18to take a closer look.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20But obviously this thing is priceless
0:42:20 > 0:42:23so once I'm inside, I've been told I mustn't move around.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Some time during its long history, this cope was sliced up
0:42:30 > 0:42:32to create various ecclesiastical vestments,
0:42:32 > 0:42:34even an altar frontal.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38But it has been painstakingly stitched back together
0:42:38 > 0:42:42with inserts of darker red velvet filling in the missing sections.
0:42:45 > 0:42:46I've got to say it's a very strange sensation
0:42:46 > 0:42:49to be here inside the display case.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52But it's also mesmerizing to be this close.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56You almost want to stroke it, to touch it.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57But absolutely forbidden.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07The Butler-Bowden Cope is one of the most ornate, complex and ambitious
0:43:07 > 0:43:10to survive in anything like its original state.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Underside couching and split stitching
0:43:15 > 0:43:19define the bishops and kings in glorious colour and detail.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26There are also brilliant depictions of the natural world -
0:43:26 > 0:43:29exotic parakeets
0:43:29 > 0:43:31and, most remarkably,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34leopard heads that still retain the sea pearls
0:43:34 > 0:43:35sewn onto their faces.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43This cope gives just a hint of how jewels and precious stones
0:43:43 > 0:43:46were once a vibrant part of ecclesiastical embroidery.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52And there's the familiar figure of the martyred St Edmund of Bury,
0:43:52 > 0:43:53pierced by arrows...
0:43:55 > 0:43:57..a contemplative St Catherine
0:43:57 > 0:44:00with the wheel she miraculously broke during her martyrdom...
0:44:02 > 0:44:05..and the English King and founder of Westminster Abbey,
0:44:05 > 0:44:06St Edward the Confessor.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14What I really like are these Multifoil ogee arches
0:44:14 > 0:44:15which seem almost to grow limbs
0:44:15 > 0:44:19and bind everything together in a tableau of story telling.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23That, taken together with just the sheer quality
0:44:23 > 0:44:26of the stitching and the craftsmanship...
0:44:26 > 0:44:28this is the absolute peak
0:44:28 > 0:44:31of what English artists were able to achieve.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33It's astonishing.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45But if this cope represents the peak of achievement,
0:44:45 > 0:44:47it's also a last gasp for Opus Anglicanum.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04Just after the Butler-Bowden Cope was completed in the late 1340s,
0:45:04 > 0:45:08people in southern England started dying in huge numbers.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15And by 1348, death stalked the City of London -
0:45:15 > 0:45:18the centre of England's embroidery industry.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27First, painful lumps developed on the underarms and thighs.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Then, internal bleeding created dark blotches under the skin.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Certain death followed in a few days.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41One of the worst pandemics in history had arrived in England:
0:45:41 > 0:45:45The Black Death, and it sounded the death knell for Opus Anglicanum.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Across Europe, the population declined by around 40%,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54but in urban centres, like London, it was much worse.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57More than half the people living here died.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02The Black Death was cataclysmic. Society had to completely re-adjust.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05By the end of the century, the world was a very different place.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18The London embroidery industry had been destroyed,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21and by the time it recovered,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24the initiative had been seized by Dutch embroiderers
0:46:24 > 0:46:27who worked more quickly and more cheaply.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31The English followed suit.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34Today, the dramatic shift in style and technique
0:46:34 > 0:46:37can be seen in Threadneedle Street in London,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41still home to one of London's Medieval Guilds.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48This is the funerary pall of the Merchant Tailors Company.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52This was a piece of rich material
0:46:52 > 0:46:54that was placed over the coffin
0:46:54 > 0:46:58of the deceased member for funerals and for their anniversary services.
0:46:58 > 0:46:59So the Merchant Tailors,
0:46:59 > 0:47:02is there anything identifying the Merchant Tailors here?
0:47:02 > 0:47:06You can see the scissors at the end here and also the Merchant Tailors
0:47:06 > 0:47:10grew out of the fraternity of Saint John the Baptist,
0:47:10 > 0:47:15and so you see John the Baptist featured prominently along the sides.
0:47:16 > 0:47:21And here is St John baptising Christ,
0:47:21 > 0:47:26and here, in rather gruesome detail, is the head of St John the Baptist
0:47:26 > 0:47:28on a plate, with an unnecessary inscription, it seems to me,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31saying "behold the head of the Baptist on a plate."
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Yes, we can see blood coming out of his severed neck.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38- That's quite gruesome, isn't it? - Yes.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40I'm looking at John the Baptist's face here,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43and there's something definitely technically different
0:47:43 > 0:47:45to the Opus Anglicanum I've seen before.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47In earlier Opus Anglicanum embroidery,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50the stitches carefully follow the contours of the face.
0:47:50 > 0:47:55Here, they're simply arranged in parallel lines on the face.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00There's much less of the vivid, realistic human features
0:48:00 > 0:48:03that we've seen when things are stitched in rounder form.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06What you're seeing is actually a change in which the English
0:48:06 > 0:48:08are adopting Continental techniques.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Unfortunately, by this stage, England had become a follower
0:48:11 > 0:48:12rather than a leader.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17Were standards being kept as high as had previously been?
0:48:17 > 0:48:23I think not. I think that in the early 15th century,
0:48:23 > 0:48:28you'll find the Commons petitioning Henry VI in 1423
0:48:28 > 0:48:33because they complained that people had, certainly embroiderers,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36were mixing in bad work with good,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39and that they were producing these things outside of London
0:48:39 > 0:48:42to avoid the scrutiny of the King's wardens.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44So by the time this is made,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47is it fair to say England is no longer the leader?
0:48:47 > 0:48:50The heyday of Opus Anglicanum has come to its end?
0:48:50 > 0:48:53I'm afraid Opus Anglicanum had definitely
0:48:53 > 0:48:54seen its heyday by this stage.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58- This is a very far cry from the early pieces.- What a shame.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08With the fine techniques of English Medieval embroidery abandoned
0:49:08 > 0:49:12in favour of quicker, more profitable production methods,
0:49:12 > 0:49:14copied from mainland Europe,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17the practice of Opus Anglicanum was dead.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26And another event, no less cataclysmic than the Black Death,
0:49:26 > 0:49:30would threaten even the evidence of England's great age of embroidery.
0:49:32 > 0:49:38The English life, its faith, its philosophy, was about to experience a revolution.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44A religious storm was brewing that would sweep away old certainties
0:49:44 > 0:49:46and great works of art.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02The early 16th century had seen a growing anti-Catholic feeling
0:50:02 > 0:50:04spreading across Europe.
0:50:04 > 0:50:05It was provoked by corruption -
0:50:05 > 0:50:09the sale of church offices and indulgences.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13But the sight of churchmen parading around in expensive vestments,
0:50:13 > 0:50:18embroidered with gold and hundreds of jewels, can't exactly have helped!
0:50:24 > 0:50:28In the 1530s, the Church of England broke with Rome.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30The authority of the Pope was overturned
0:50:30 > 0:50:32and replaced by that of the King.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37New theological arguments outlawed
0:50:37 > 0:50:40the traditional use of religious imagery.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44It was the start of the Protestant Reformation in England.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48Here at St Andrew's in north Burlingham in Norfolk,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51the level of fanaticism's clear to see from the rood screen,
0:50:51 > 0:50:56where images of the saints have been systematically vandalised.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00I've never seen this before, and it's genuinely shocking.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03These images have literally been defaced.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06And all because they represented what was called
0:51:06 > 0:51:08"the profane beast of Rome."
0:51:11 > 0:51:15What you can feel from all of these images is the visceral hatred,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18the violence and the fury of the men who did this.
0:51:21 > 0:51:22Almost overnight,
0:51:22 > 0:51:26the treasures of one age became the heresy of the next.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30And Opus Anglicanum's love of depicting
0:51:30 > 0:51:34the lives of the saints in stitchwork, and of the Pope's,
0:51:34 > 0:51:41made it a prime target, and sadly, an art so delicate and fragile,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45so tempting for its removable gold thread and jewels,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49was the easiest thing to vandalise or destroy.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55One of the greatest arts of the Medieval age was almost extinguished.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01The flamboyant excess of English embroidery
0:52:01 > 0:52:03was simply too dangerous to own,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07because, wherever it was found, like this rood screen,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10like stained glass windows, like carved images of saints,
0:52:10 > 0:52:14like crosses in church yards, it was destroyed.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19Opus Anglicanum was simply too grand, too ostentatious,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21too "pope-ish" for the Reformation.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40Around 30 major pieces of Medieval English embroidery
0:52:40 > 0:52:42are all that survive.
0:52:42 > 0:52:48Every piece, every fragment an incredible rarity.
0:52:48 > 0:52:55And we know next to nothing about the men and women who designed and made these great vestments.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02But in a gallery, just off the main entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum,
0:53:02 > 0:53:06there's a cope that provokes the specialists into a frenzy
0:53:06 > 0:53:09of speculation and excitement.
0:53:09 > 0:53:14A cope with more clues to the taste and character of its creator than any other.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26Today, the Syon Cope is having a rare outing from its display case,
0:53:26 > 0:53:31under the watchful gaze of V and A curator, Glyn Davies.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Mystery surrounds the origins of the cope.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39It takes its name from Syon Abbey in Middlesex,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41which owned it from the 15th century.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47The cope survives today only because it was spirited abroad
0:53:47 > 0:53:49by the intrepid nuns of Syon
0:53:49 > 0:53:53who fled Reformation England, taking it with them.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08It's amazing, Glyn,
0:54:08 > 0:54:10to have this out of its case. How often do you take it out?
0:54:10 > 0:54:12Very, very rarely.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15We installed this in these new galleries in 2009.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18I haven't seen it out of its case since.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22And that was the first time I saw it outside its case
0:54:22 > 0:54:25in my entire time here at the museum,
0:54:25 > 0:54:27so this is a rare, rare opportunity. It's wonderful to see.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31One thing I'm fascinated by is round here.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33And this I think you can tell us a bit more about.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36We know, don't we, who made this?
0:54:36 > 0:54:40Well, we have some idea of the man that it was made for.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42This is very unusual.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44Unfortunately, it's still quite tantalising.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46We don't know everything we would like to.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48- But here he is.- Who's this?
0:54:48 > 0:54:51He's this chap who's kneeling down here
0:54:51 > 0:54:55beneath this scene of Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00Christ is resurrected, he appears to Mary Magdalene
0:55:00 > 0:55:02and she wants to touch him and he says,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04- no, you can't touch me. - Rather like this cope!
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Absolutely!
0:55:07 > 0:55:11And so kneeling in prayer beneath that you have this figure
0:55:11 > 0:55:13who's wearing the robe of a monk.
0:55:13 > 0:55:19We know he's a monk, and he's holding a scroll in his hands.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21- It has some lettering on it. - What does it say?
0:55:21 > 0:55:26Well, it says "dawn pers dai". Just to explain that,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30dawn is like "don", like Don Giovanni.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34- It's a term for a gentleman.- OK.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38Pers is Piers or Peter, and dai just means of.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Normally, you would then say where he was from,
0:55:41 > 0:55:45whether he was from Gloucester or wherever.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48Unfortunately, it doesn't go on to tell us!
0:55:48 > 0:55:52So we know that he was a monk, we know that he's wealthy -
0:55:52 > 0:55:56of course he was if he could pay for this - and we know his name's Peter,
0:55:56 > 0:55:58but we don't know an awful lot else about where he was from
0:55:58 > 0:56:00or where this was made for.
0:56:00 > 0:56:06But we know something about his tastes as a religious man.
0:56:06 > 0:56:07OK. What do we know?
0:56:07 > 0:56:11We know he was particularly devoted to Saint Thomas the apostle,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14or Doubting Thomas, because here he is again
0:56:14 > 0:56:18kneeling beneath this scene, where Thomas is being asked to
0:56:18 > 0:56:21thrust his hand into Christ's side wound.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24There's a lot of gold thread on this scene.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26Yeah, it's very beautiful.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30And I think there's a deliberate contrast with Mary Magdalene,
0:56:30 > 0:56:34who's not allowed to touch Christ, and Thomas, who is.
0:56:34 > 0:56:39And Thomas appears again in the next frame around,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43and he's standing there with his lance,
0:56:43 > 0:56:45but I think particularly interestingly,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Thomas appears a third time, and it's up here in this scene,
0:56:49 > 0:56:54which is really unique in Medieval art,
0:56:54 > 0:56:56because it's a combination of two scenes.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59You've got the funeral of the Virgin Mary, but at the back,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02you can see the Virgin's soul is going up into heaven
0:57:02 > 0:57:06and there's this snake-like object being passed down to this chap
0:57:06 > 0:57:08standing at the back, and that man is Thomas,
0:57:08 > 0:57:12and what he's being given is the Virgin's belt, the girdle,
0:57:12 > 0:57:15which is one of the key relics of the Virgin, which was kept in Pisa.
0:57:15 > 0:57:22So this a truly amazing object, and it's one of so few that's survived.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25How many of these do you think might originally have been in existence?
0:57:25 > 0:57:32Well, it's impossible to say, but if you look at the inventories of some of the great churches
0:57:32 > 0:57:34and monasteries in England at the time,
0:57:34 > 0:57:38it wouldn't be unusual to find 15 or 20 copes
0:57:38 > 0:57:45and 15 or 20 chasubles, sometimes many more than that, so hundreds
0:57:45 > 0:57:50if not thousands of these must have existed. We must have lost over 90%.
0:57:50 > 0:57:51Wow.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00Today, we recognise the artistic greatness of the Medieval age
0:58:00 > 0:58:04in its stained glass, its effigies and religious sculpture,
0:58:04 > 0:58:06and its architecture.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09We should also proclaim it as the Age of Embroidery.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13It's just that so little of it has survived.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19A tantalising hint of one of the greatest artistic industries
0:58:19 > 0:58:21England has ever produced.
0:58:27 > 0:58:29But there remains the attractive possibility
0:58:29 > 0:58:32that an old Catholic family may unknowingly possess
0:58:32 > 0:58:36some ancient vestments, tucked away inside a dusty chest,
0:58:36 > 0:58:38or hidden behind a secret panel.
0:58:38 > 0:58:41An embroidered treasure that's survived history,
0:58:41 > 0:58:43just waiting to come into the light.
0:58:49 > 0:58:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd