Embroidered Front of an Altar, 1600s - 1700s. Italy or Spain, 17th-18th century. Embroidered satin and silk; overall: 108 x 209.5 cm (42 1/2 x 82 1/2 in.). This spectacular cloth with raised three-dimensional embroidery embellished the front of an altar. Lavishly applied gilt-metal thread creates architectural embellishments enhanced by grand vases displaying sheaves of wheat in the upper corners and bunches of grapes in the center of the fringed over-frontal, referring to the bread and wine of the Mass. The central coat of arms represents the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, a Roman Catholic mendicant order established in 1218 by Saint Peter Nolasco in the city of Barcelona, Spain, then in the principality of Catalonia (crown of Aragon).