The Fascinating Medieval Embroidery Technique of Or Nuè · embroideries is their use of gold. Gold was universally used to glorify God; and, with silver-gilt threads shining through

The Fascinating Medieval EmbroideryTechnique of Or Nuè

In recent decades there has been a revival of interest in goldwork techniques, including thatof 15th-century Or Nuè, or nuance on gold. In this most spectacular form of western goldwork,silver-gilt (gold) threads in pairs were laid across the surface of linen ground fabric and themetal held down (“couched”) with polychrome silks. The design is created by the couchingstitches whose color and density create the characteristic subtle shading and illusion ofdimension in these exquisite embroideries. This technique of shaded goldwork (sometimesreferred to as needle-painting) continued to be used by European embroiderers until theearly 17th century.

There are many misconceptions as to precisely what is meant by the term “Or Nuè.” In lateMedieval/early Renaissance Or Nuè, the design is always figurative or narrative, almost alwaysbiblical figures and scenes from the New Testaments. There is no “pattern couching,” i.e.patterning created by the positioning of the couching stitches. No padding of any kind is usedunder the uncouched laid metal (as is found in Italian Couching). And the metal foundationthreads are laid in horizontal rows, and never follow the curves of a design motif as in ItalianShading. (These other techniques, particularly the use of padding, are also often found in theextant embroideries, but Or Nuè is the dominant technique.)

The Marion Mantle, Mass Vestments of the Golden Fleece, Flemish, 15th century. A pictureis worth a thousand words! In the case of this incredible embroidered work, neither words norpictures can begin to do it justice. You just have to see it! This approximately 9' long by 4 1/2' high(2.8 by 1.4 meter) cope featuring the Virgin Mary is located in the Imperial Palace—Schatzkammer—Vienna. This is just one of the extant pieces in this set of Mass vestments whichare on display.© Jane D. Zimmerman 2008. All rights to this intellectual property is reserved. It may be duplicated for personal use only. Any otherduplication/distribution requires the author's written permssion—[email protected].

© Jane D. Zimmerman 2008. All rights to this intellectual property is reserved. It may be duplicated for personal use only. Any otherduplication/distribution requires the author's written permssion—[email protected].

The Fascinating Medieval Embroidery Technique of Or Nuè 2

Detail, Marian Mantle. Thedetail in this image is fantastic.All draperies including thebackground, are executed in theOr Nuè technique. The hair is silksplit stitch and the flesh isamazingly fine burden stitch thatuses a foundation of gold threadof such small diameter that it isvisible only where silk thread hasrotted in the right hand. There isa modest amount of padding inthe columns located behind thefigure, but all other dimension iscreated with the values of silk andthe density of the couchingstitches. (Imperial Palace—Schatzkammer—Vienna)

While Or Nuè is simply basiccouching, it is not a simpletechnique. The double strandsof metal have to be turned at theoutside edges of the areabeing filled; the horizontal rowsmust not be overcrowded butyet fit side-by-side so no groundfabric is exposed; the horizontalrows must be kept verystraight; and the location andcolor of each perfectly right-angled couching stitch must beplaced artistically. But what amagnificent result all thisprecision creates!

I estimate an area 1" highrequired a minimum of 24 rows of double-strand silver-gilt thread, perhaps as many as 30rows. My rough estimate is a phenomonal 20,000 to 30,000 hours were required to completeone cope! The number of couching stitches is incalculable—millions and millions. And thework could be done only in good daylight!

The Vestments of the Golden Fleece include at least six extant pieces: three copes, a dalmatic,a chasuble, and an altar frontal (as shown on the next pages). It is conceivable that the membersof the large professional workshop that produced this set of vestments devoted their entireworking lives to these few pieces of work.



Chasuble (left) and dalmatic (above) from theMass Vestments of the Golden Fleece. All articlesuse the identical design of oblong diamondmedallions with Or Nuè as the dominant technique.(Imperial Palace—Schatzkammer—Vienna)

The Golden Fleece vestments were worked in Burgundy, which during the 15th and early 16thcentury included part of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The dukes ofBurgundy were patrons of all the arts, including manuscript illumination, painting, tapestry-weaving, and the working of richly embroidered vestments. It is possible that the Or Nuetechnique had its beginnings in a new method developed by the painter Jan Van Eyck inwhich he superimposed a series of glazes in his painting. Or perhaps the technique was theembroiderers’ way of imitating illuminators, enamellists, and painters who typically workedwith inks and paints on a gold-leafed foundation on their wood panels, using the samecompositional and iconographic elements.

Flemish needle-painting also developed to an impressive level of sophistication in Florence,Italy during this period. Written records indicate that prominent painters of the late MiddleAges, such as Antonio del Pollaiuolo, designed the cartoons used by the embroiderers forthe shaded goldwork. It is possible that painters even drew the designs on the linen foundationand then delicately painted them to guide the hands of the embroiderers. On some extantexamples where the silk couching stitches have disintegrated, the foundation with its lightlypainted design can be seen. Since embroidery was considered an art form in the late medievaland early Renaissance periods, it is logical that the jobs of painter, illuminator, enamellist,and embroiderer were essentially interchangeable.

Given these artistic interrelationships, it is not surprising that the Burgundian vestments—often described as the most sumptuous and finest pieces of needle art ever produced—alsoexemplify the most innovative artistic techniques of the age. For example, the artistic techniqueof chiaoscuro—the effect of light to create highlights and shadow—was becoming a standardtechnique in painting and manuscript illumination in Flanders and Italy in the early 1400s. (Itlater spread to all Western art.) This contrast between light and dark, often referred to as



shading, was likewise used by the embroidery artiststo achieve a sense of three-dimensional modeling inthese exceptional pieces.

However, certainly the most stunning aspect of theseembroideries is their use of gold. Gold was universallyused to glorify God; and, with silver-gilt threads shiningthrough the silk stitches of variable spacing, thesepieces rival the success of artists in any medium.

The predominant silver-gilt material used by themedieval and Renaissance embroiderers was “passingthread.” To produce passing thread, a small brick ofcopper was plated with silver and then with a significantquantity of pure gold. The wire-drawers had a series of metal plates, each with a hole in thecenter. The holes became successively smaller—sometimes by as little as 1/100th of an inch(0.025 centimeter)—from one plate to the next. The gilded metal brick would be forced throughthe hole of a large succession of plates, producing a finer and finer round wire. (No matterhow fine this wire became, the gold always remained on the top.) When the drawn wire reachedthe desired diameter it was hammered flat, and the resulting gold strip was wrapped arounda fine core of silk thread. Passing thread is traditionally couched as a pair of side-by-sidestrands. While the precious metal content has been reduced over the centuries to as little as1/2 of one percent of gold today, silver-gilt passing thread has always been—and remainstoday—a favorite of ecclesiastical and secular embroiderers alike.

Altar frontal of the Mass Vestments of the GoldenFleece, this of scenes of prophets and apostles withthe trinity represented in the center panel. “God on histhrone supports his Son, the Man of Sorrows, while thedove of the Holy Ghost hovers over Jesus’ left shoulder.”(Imperial Palace—Schatzkammer—Vienna)



Left: Detail of the bride in the designat the wedding of Cannan from theMiddleburg Altar Frontal, dated about1518. Note that in her sleeves and thebackground, the double strands of goldthreads have an unusual form of patterncouching—blocks of side-by-sidestitches spaced in a regular, repeatedmanner and bricked in position from rowto row.

Below: Detail of the figure of Godfrom a chasuble of the Holy Spirit,another garment in the Mass Vestmentsof the Golden Fleece. Note that in thehalo the rows of shaded gold threadsfollow the motif’s round contour.

The flesh in both the figures of theembroideries on this page, in which theOr Nuè technique dominates, is workedin fine burden stitch in minimal values ofsilk over a spaced foundation of finesilver-gilt thread. This stitch issometimes referred to as the needle-painting stitch of the Middle Ages. Asearly as the middle of the 16th century, itdecreases in popularity as Westernembroiderers begin to “paint” with long-and-short stitch.

By the beginning of the 16th century, theuse of Or Nuè technique had spreadthroughout Europe and was being usedby ecclesiastical embroiderers of manyWestern countries, including Spain andEngland.



Details of a medallion design in one of the Mass Vestment of the Golden Fleece copes. It isonly in the draperies of the figure’s costume that the Or Nuè technique is used. The bands thatdefine the framework for the figurative image are worked in different forms of couching with subtleor bricking patterns. For the latter fillings a thread of a color to match the metal is used, allowing thesilver-gilt threads to be totally visible. Padding is used in a modest amount. Metal threads areused to outline sections and there appears to be some use of twisted cord to increase the opulenceof the goldwork. It was typical in the Golden Fleece vestments for small pearls to be used to furtherenhance the grandeur of these pieces of art, likely a trademark of the professional workshopswhich produced this work. (Imperial Palace—Schatzkammer—Vienna)

These vestments of the Golden Fleece go just about as far as a needle can—artistically andtechnically. What a triumph!



Detail of a Flemish panel for anorphrey, a decorative band thatwas applied down the center frontand back of a chasuble. Probablymid-15th century. The scene isof the Virgin Mary and archangelGabriel. (Metropolitan Museum,New York)

The background, or thedecorative wall, of this orpheryis an example of the ItalianCouching technique. (The bestdefinition can be seen in thearea above Gabriel’s head.)This technique can beconsidered a variation of theancient Byzantine technique ofPattern Couching. As in the OrNuè work, Italian Couching isexecuted on a solidly-filledstraight-line surface of metalthread laid in pairs. A repeatpattern of small motifs, such asthe long diagonally-positionedrectangles in this Flemish piece, are drawn on the linen ground fabric. Both the backgroundarea between the motifs and the outline of the motifs are couched with right-angle stitches infine silk thread in a value that is a strong contract to the metal foundation, throwing the motifsinto “relief”. Occasionally, embroiderers used thin padding in the shape of the motif, applyingit to the linen ground before the couching was begun. The uncouched metal thread over thepadding rises slightly from the ground giving more “glitter” to the piece of work as light isreflected off the surface.

Detail of one of a series of roundelsused on an orphrey. Origin of theembroidery is unknown by the museumbut early 17th-century England issuggested. The Or Nuè technique isused for the figure’s costume and silkburden stitch for flesh. The field of goldthat serves as the background uses thetechnique of pattern couching, typicalof the later work embroidered in theFlemish manner. The design is outlinedwith twisted cord. (Victoria & AlbertMuseum, London)



This pictorial embroidery fromthe 16th century has manyelements found in Flemishecclesiastical embroidery ofthis period, but was possiblycreated in Spain (which was underthe political and cultural influenceof Flanders). The characteristicscommon to the embroidery ofboth these countries include thearchitectural elements, thecherubic angels, the Or Nuètechnique, and, most particularly,the color palette. This piece ofwork is so finely craftedtechnically that it was probablythe product of a Flemish, not aSpanish, workshop. (Victoria &Albert Museum, London)

Detail from an English work, datedbetween 1430 and 1460. Whilesurface couching is the techniqueEnglish embroiderers used in thisperiod to handle metal threads, it isnot typical to find what is referred toas Italian Shading in extantexamples. In Italian Shading, thepairs of silver-gilt threads follow thecontour of the shape being filled;shading and the illusion of dimensionare created by the value of silkthreads and the density of thecouching stitches in the halo andouter garments. This figure wasembroidered on a linen ground,pasted on the back, cut out and thenapplied to a silk velvet ground.(Victoria & Albert Museum, London)



Detail of a Florentine panel, early16th century. The garments of theApostle Andrew are embroidered in theOr Nuè technique. The rows of silver-gilt passing thread are taken acrossthe entire piece in most areas, butdifferent techniques are used to definethe areas in the architectural designof the background, including the useof twist and cord. The flesh of thehands and feet is worked in fine silkburden stitch. The face and hair areworked in very fine split stitch, thescale of which is so small that it ispossible they were stitched on asdeparate piece of linen and thenapplied to the main embroidery. Thistechnique is not typically foundcombined with the Or Nuè work.(Victoria & Albert Museum, London)



Detail from a series of Italian17th-century roundels. By thistime the Or Nuè work has becomerather coarse, lacking subtlety inshading and sophistication ofdesign. In this series of roundels,the silver-gilt foundation consists ofsingle strands of twist.(Victoria &Albert Museum, London)

The images provided in The Fascinating Medieval Embroidery Technique of Or Nuè are for the sole purposeof education; under US and International Copyright regulations such material falls in the “Fair Use” category.This entire history chapter, or individual pages of it, can be copied and/or printed, which I encourage you to dofor your own history archives. I have been researching needlework history and sharing my knowledge withembroiderers for almost 30 years. I am thrilled to have found an entirely new audience in the internet withwhom I can share.

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The Fascinating Medieval Embroidery Technique of Or Nuè · embroideries is their use of gold. Gold was universally used to glorify God; and, with silver-gilt threads shining through