Picture
Title
Regina Sanctorum Omnium
Object name
Date made
Circa 1920
Place made
Description
A scene from the Litany of Loreto embroidery series, depicting the Coronation of the Virgin. The Virgin Mary is identified as Regina Sanctorum Omnium in this embroidery, which is one of 12 panels illustrating the names of the Virgin from The Litany of Loreto, embroidered circa 1920.
Content description
A rectangular panel embroidered depicting the Coronation of the Virgin, worked in silk and metal threads on silk satin. In the centre of the scene sits the Virgin Mary on a throne. She is surrounded by six haloed, singing angels on either side of her, holding scrolls of sheet music. A focus on her role as queen rather than mother of Christ is embodied by her crown and throne and is reinforced by the halo around her head which reads, 'REGINA SANCTIUM OMNIUM', meaning 'Queen of All Saints'. In the foreground stand the archangel Michael and St Cecilia. Michael, who holds a billowing flag, looks down at the defeated dragon beside him, his defeat of the beast representing protection and peace. On the Virgin's left is Saint Cecilia, who holds a small pipe organ and gazes up at the newly crowned queen. Both figures in the foreground are haloed. Michael wears armour, while Cecilia wears a richly decorated tunic. Abutting the picture's bottom is the head of the defeated dragon, from whose nostrils steam spouts. A heavy focus on vertical lines in the richly decorated, architectural structures and the lightly coloured garments of Mary and the angels leads the viewer's eyes upwards towards Heaven in prayer.
The design has been embroidered onto a cream silk satin ground using a shining palette of creams, greys, blacks, browns, and golds, with shinier areas in silk floss and more matte areas in filoselle. The couched goldwork is worked in various sizes of Japanese thread. Outlines are worked in stem stitch and split stitch, and the general use of a black thread outline for the figures gives them strong definition. Hair is worked in dense and finely shaded long and short stitch to emphasise light catching curls and waves. Faces are very lightly worked with fine straight stitch cross-hatching in the same colour as the ground fabric or slightly darker to suggest modelling. Straight stitch cross-hatching is also used to create shadows on the Virgin's robes, St Cecilia's tunic, and Michael's flag. Small details, such as the gold sections of Michael's armour, are worked in satin stitch. Tiny French knots adorn archangel Michael and St Cecilia's halos. The scene is framed by a border of gold Japanese threads in S-ing and couching, flanked by tiny stem stitches.
The overall effect is to emphasise the delicate line, light, and shade of the design, which is a very distinctive feature of all the embroideries in this Litany of Loreto series. This series includes twelve embroideries, all now in the possession of the Royal School of Needlework. Thanks to work done by Mary Corbet and John A. Shaffer, we know that these embroideries were produced from designs by Italian graphic designer Ezio Anichini, who trained at the Florence School of Art in 1900. Anichini first produced 46 designs based on the Litany of Loreto, a litany to the Virgin Mary, in 1912, when they appeared in the magazine Scena Illustrata. Following the magazine's release of these images, they appeared in two book-format editions with postcard-sized reproductions. The last was issued in 1930. These twelve embroideries were produced by an unknown maker or makers, likely sometime after the original 1912 production of the Anichini designs. It is unknown whether they were originally part of a larger group. By 1970 the twelve panels were in the possession of the Mayfield Convent in East Sussex, England. They were donated to the Royal School of Needlework upon the closure of the convent in the 1970s.
Anichini’s designs were derived from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587 for use throughout the Catholic Church. The litany is also known as the Litany of Loreto, as it originated at the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto (Basilica della Sandra Casa) near Ancona, on the east coast of Italy. This had been a place of pilgrimage since the 13th century when a cottage presumed to be that lived in by the Virgin apparently appeared at the site, and a shrine was built to mark the event. The original litany lists the names used in the church for the Virgin Mary, often chanted as a call and response.
In this panel, Mary is named as Queen, and is referred to as 'REGINA SANCTIUM OMNIUM' in Latin, which translates to 'Queen of All Saints', highlighting her role in the story of salvation.
The design has been embroidered onto a cream silk satin ground using a shining palette of creams, greys, blacks, browns, and golds, with shinier areas in silk floss and more matte areas in filoselle. The couched goldwork is worked in various sizes of Japanese thread. Outlines are worked in stem stitch and split stitch, and the general use of a black thread outline for the figures gives them strong definition. Hair is worked in dense and finely shaded long and short stitch to emphasise light catching curls and waves. Faces are very lightly worked with fine straight stitch cross-hatching in the same colour as the ground fabric or slightly darker to suggest modelling. Straight stitch cross-hatching is also used to create shadows on the Virgin's robes, St Cecilia's tunic, and Michael's flag. Small details, such as the gold sections of Michael's armour, are worked in satin stitch. Tiny French knots adorn archangel Michael and St Cecilia's halos. The scene is framed by a border of gold Japanese threads in S-ing and couching, flanked by tiny stem stitches.
The overall effect is to emphasise the delicate line, light, and shade of the design, which is a very distinctive feature of all the embroideries in this Litany of Loreto series. This series includes twelve embroideries, all now in the possession of the Royal School of Needlework. Thanks to work done by Mary Corbet and John A. Shaffer, we know that these embroideries were produced from designs by Italian graphic designer Ezio Anichini, who trained at the Florence School of Art in 1900. Anichini first produced 46 designs based on the Litany of Loreto, a litany to the Virgin Mary, in 1912, when they appeared in the magazine Scena Illustrata. Following the magazine's release of these images, they appeared in two book-format editions with postcard-sized reproductions. The last was issued in 1930. These twelve embroideries were produced by an unknown maker or makers, likely sometime after the original 1912 production of the Anichini designs. It is unknown whether they were originally part of a larger group. By 1970 the twelve panels were in the possession of the Mayfield Convent in East Sussex, England. They were donated to the Royal School of Needlework upon the closure of the convent in the 1970s.
Anichini’s designs were derived from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587 for use throughout the Catholic Church. The litany is also known as the Litany of Loreto, as it originated at the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto (Basilica della Sandra Casa) near Ancona, on the east coast of Italy. This had been a place of pilgrimage since the 13th century when a cottage presumed to be that lived in by the Virgin apparently appeared at the site, and a shrine was built to mark the event. The original litany lists the names used in the church for the Virgin Mary, often chanted as a call and response.
In this panel, Mary is named as Queen, and is referred to as 'REGINA SANCTIUM OMNIUM' in Latin, which translates to 'Queen of All Saints', highlighting her role in the story of salvation.
Dimensions
width: 61cm
height: 78cm
height: 78cm
Materials
Stitches
Straight stitch 
Satin stitch
Long and short stitch
S-ing (goldwork)
Bricking
Couching
Split stitch
Stem stitch
French knot
Satin stitch
Long and short stitch
S-ing (goldwork)
Bricking
Couching
Split stitch
Stem stitch
French knot
Techniques
Motifs
Credit line
Gift of Mayfield Convent, 1970s.
Catalogue number
RSN.1201
© Royal School of Needlework