Sarum Blue is at once most blue and also....violet

Sarum Blue has been a controversial subject.  We have been commissioned a couple of times to make something in that Liturgical Colour... and as always, we at Klave Centesca try to do a certain degree of  research before embarking on any project.  It is always good to learn new things!

Turns out we see this meme all the time out there:

 

And yes, it has been posted in reference to our blue vestments:

 

So let's go down the rabbit hole:

 

  Yes, these are three chasubles depicted in manuscripts ranging between the 10th and 15c., and yes they are quite blue.  Are they Sarum?  No, but the important thing is that they ARE blue.. ultramarine blue in the first two images, to be exact, which is the pigment often used in those days to achieve this colour from the painstaking process of grinding the mineral lapis lazuli.  

 

The other choice of blue pigment was made out of cobalt... both rather bright, definitive, shades of blue.  

But... it is true... the ordines and rubrics of the Church don't generally consider blue as a liturgical colour... yet it appears not just in chasubles... but also in the form of copes:

And then, also in the form of choir dress: are certain of these cardinals wearing blue cappa magnas?

Are these French Prelates all in blue choir dress too?

 

Well, it's not some conspiracy.  Turns out, the French Prelates are all Bishops - they are actually wearing violet mozettas (aka camails, in French) lined in amaranth red as prescribed for their hierarchy to this day... just that in painting, back before acrylics and oils came in tubes, blue was still made out of ground lapis and smelt and other proprietary recipes...and was used to "depict" the prescribed "violaceus" hues of the church.  

 

Yes, that is how in this beautiful images of a papal chapels, processions and consistories, there are red Cardinals and a few "blue" prelates too:

 

  

And just as art imitates life... eventually, life imitates art.  This is an extant Halberstadt blue chasuble from the 13c. Keeping in mind that textile colours do fade with time.

  

But if textiles fade, certainly the stained glass windows and illuminated manuscripts that are part of our collective patrimony, culture and memory, do not.  So to those who question the existence of Sarum blue... and then it's bright incarnations as royal, azure, lapis and cobalt... well... look at the rubrics and when is it used: Advent... when violet is called for... and look at the evidence above where these bright blues are used to depict whatever the church prescribes as violet in art: from the choir dress of bishops, to the court dress of domestic prelates of the pope, and vestments in places outside the use of Sarum where "blue" is not an option but violet always is.  Sarum blue is not an anomaly.  And these bright hues, end up closely resembling the historical ultramarine obtained from the lapis.

 

 Hence. voila!

Sarum blue is at once most blue, and also... violet. Technically.

:)

Here are links to two of our featured blue sets, if you'd like to revisit them:

Sarum Blue Vestments for Chapel of Saint Andrew

Red Becket Style Chasuble lined in Royal Blue

Becket Chasuble In Red, Lined in Royal Blue

Recently, we were commissioned to make this Becket-style Low mass set.

Becket-style vestments usually take their inspiration from one of the extant chasubles that belonged to the 12c English Martyr himself.  The most famous one is that held in the Treasury at Sens Cathedral because of the particular pattern in which the orphrey is laid on the chasuble's front and back.  This, we took as our starting point.

As with every one of our projects, the design ends up being a collaborative process. Father Patrick Allen, for whom the set was made, decided it would be more useful to reduce some of the volume by curtailing the sides up to the wrists.  The original was itself a slightly modified conical chasuble which is not recommendable for celebrating a low mass where the priest is who turns the pages of the missal, for example, so as to prevent knocking over the chalice and such.  Functionality is paramount when celebrating the mass - especially when not attended by a small legion of altar servers, as in yesteryear, to hold back the sides of your chasuble out of the way and rearrange to reveal your hands whenever the extra fabric slides past them.

With that in mind, a red exterior with a royal blue interior was the colour scheme chosen.  The red is particularly inspired by Saint Thomas Becket himself, a martyr who will be celebrated henceforth with these vestments.  The red also being appropriate for the upcoming Whitsunday, Masses for the Holy Spirit and every other martyr in the calendar.  The royal blue interior offers a nice contrast, and recalls the light which shines through the colored-glass windows.

Though it wasn't designed to be reversible...  inside-out it wouldn't be a bad choice for an improvised Sarum-blue Advent Sunday!  Or Monday... whatever appropriate.

But enough improvisation.  Once again, here it is the chasuble, but this time with an appareled amice we featured here which would finish the look.  An appareled alb would also be a definite possibility to round things off.

Lastly, we'd like to leave you with an image of the maniple and stole.

These too were inspired by the original ones at Sens, in the shape and pattern of the embroidery on the extremities. Because this is a low mass set, we kept the embroideries simple with only a few, tiny, metal beads for embellishment.  Works nicely though, wouldn't you say?

Would you like different colours or details on yours?  Contact us and we'd love to collaborate on it! :)