Nabedrennik (Russian Orthodox vestment)
The Orthodox Church teaches that its clergy are temporarily transformed into earthly embodiments of God and the angels by the sacred clothing- the vestments- they wear. Something of that wonderment is captured in the sparkle of this silver-thread woven panel, which would glint and shimmer with the priest’s movement, worn suspended from his waist. This type of textile panel, called a nabedrennik, is unique to Russian Orthodoxy. Rewarding the priest’s service to the Church, it symbolizes the word of God as a weapon in the arsenal of the spiritual warrior.
Its elegant art nouveau design captures the splendor and confidence of the Orthodox Church in Tzarist Russia just years before the 1917 October Revolution would outlaw such opulent symbols of religious belief as excessive superstition. As such, it is also a remarkable survival.
Its elegant art nouveau design captures the splendor and confidence of the Orthodox Church in Tzarist Russia just years before the 1917 October Revolution would outlaw such opulent symbols of religious belief as excessive superstition. As such, it is also a remarkable survival.
Artwork Details
- Title: Nabedrennik (Russian Orthodox vestment)
- Date: ca. 1895
- Culture: Russian
- Medium: Undyed silk, silver metal wrapped threads, silver strips
- Dimensions: 30 3/4 × 16 1/2 in. (78.1 × 41.9 cm)
- Classification: Textiles-Ecclesiastical
- Credit Line: Gift of Jason and Ashley Bernhard, in honor of Jean Briggs, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.402
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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Imperial Armory, Tula (south of Moscow), Russia
ca. 1780–85
Unknown Artist, Swiss, Austrian, or German, active Russia ca. 1703–4
probably shortly before 1704
1797
late 18th–early 19th century
ca. 1780
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