Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 27. (Budapest, 2009)

Piroska ÁCS: "These Robes Will Appear Like a Vision..."

the cope Published in Magyar Iparművészet 1938, 108 figures made with a fine embroidery-like weaving technique in brilliant colours. The liturgical purpose of the images was described by the person responsible for its conception, Antal Somogyi: "The Holy Mass is a divine mystery connecting earth and heaven. Through the Sanctus

, the celebrant and the congregation connect into the angelic hymn of praise to God and, through the canon, into the glorification of God by the community of saints. This was the idea which informed the design: the intimation of deeply mysterious liturgical truth through images of angels and saints. The concept was adjusted at the patrons' request to include, besides the Hungarian saints, the images of saints from the enamel adornment of the Holy Crown. The designer, Eva Mária Szabó, fulfilled the task by weaving in gold on the white ground of the 4. Border with images of the saints oj the Holy Crown Published in Magyar Iparművészet 1938, 107 5. Image of Michael Doukas, following the pattern ofthe Holy Crown enamel pictures base silk brocade, in large circles, pairs of angels singing the triple Sanctus, with the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The centre of the circles is filled with a delicate tendril ornament surrounding the sign of the cross. The cowls of the copes bear figures of the Good Shepherd (fig. 3), the Virgin Mary and the Hungarian saints [St Stephen, St Enteric and St Ladislas - PA], and the borders of the copes and dalmatics, and the centre of the chasuble, a sequence of woven images of the saints of the Holy Crown (fig. 4). The robes thus implemented a coherent liturgical concept via specifically Hungarian as127