Antique Brocaded Church Document Cover, Bolivia, H: 10.5″

Description

Hand made in a folder style, this Bolivian religious document holder possibly used for priests’ sermons or other important  documents, is decorated on each side with vibrant gold brocade surrounding stylized flowers passion flowers and roses widely used in Christianity. Our images do not do it justice as they cannot capture light flickers from the interwoven gold threads and vibrant floral patterns.Passion flowers which are native to South American were This antique Bolivian brocaded document cover is Nicolas Monardes, a 16th century Spanish doctor was one of the first Europeans to see a passion flower which is native to South America, who found 22 species and brought them back  to Spain. The flower’s many parts became a symbol to explain aspects of Christ’s crucifixion: its tendrils  symbolize his whiplash marks; its center column represents the whip the Romans used; its 72 filaments symbolize his crown of thorns, and other parts of the flower signify the 3 nails used and Jesus’s five wounds. White and red roses represent prayer rosaries as well as Jesus’ purity and his blood respectively. As Jesus alluded to the beauty of flowers in his famous Sermon on the Mount and flowers are everywhere in the world and easily understood, they have become common iconic representations. This cover could be framed to make it a unique piece of wall art.