Lorca (Murcia): The Bordados Paso Blanco Museum of Spectacular Embroidered Cloaks Used in the Holy Week Processions

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MuBBla (Museo de Bordados Blanco; Museum of Embroidery, Paso Blanco), King Solomon's Cloak (Original from 1934). 

Banner of Prayer in the Garden and Nazarenos cloaks.  Tunic and elaborate head-dress of the Estandarte De La Oración En El Huerto, the Banner of the Prayer by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is carried and escorted by the Tercio de Nazarenos del Rosario (Tercio is a military term for a division, of Nazarenes, penitents, who escort this banner during processons).  The outfit of these Nazarenos is Gothic inspired.  of the Virgen de la Amargura, of Gothic inspiration. The tunic is embroidered in gold and in the place of the tympanum (triangle space on the front of the skirt of the tunic) there are depictions of the fifteen Misterios del Rosario (Mysteries of the Rosary). The hoods are meant to resemble church spires, with three-dimensional pinnacles embroidered in gold. Capilla del Rosario, Museo de Bordados Paso Blanco, Lorca (Murcia).  

 
The Banner of Jesus Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Detail of Banner of Prayer in the Garden and Nazarenos headresss.  This tunic and elaborate head-dress is of the Estandarte De La Oración En El Huerto, the Banner of the Prayer by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is carried and escorted by the Tercio de Nazarenos del Rosario (Tercio is a military term for a division, of Nazarenes, penitents, who escort this banner during processons).  The outfit of these Nazarenos is Gothic inspired.  The tunic is embroidered in gold and in the place of the tympanum (triangle space on the front of the skirt of the tunic) there are depictions of the fifteen Misterios del Rosario (Mysteries of the Rosary). The hoods are meant to resemble church spires, with three-dimensional pinnacles embroidered in gold.

Nuestra Señora, La Santísima Virgen de la Amargura, Our Lady, the Holiest Virgin of Bitterness, of the Royal and Very Illustrious Order-Archconfraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary, Paso Blanco, in La Capilla del Rosario, Lorca (Murcia).  The Virgin of the present Amargura is the 1949 work of Jose Sanchez Lozano, the former image of the Virgen de la Amargura was sculpted in 1756 by Francisco Salzillo, but that image was destroyed in the civil war in 1936.   The present image one represents the Virgin Mary looking with her arms raised looking with crystal tears to Heaven in the moment after the death of Jesus.  This image is much revered by the people of Lorca, since she the Virgen representing the Paso Blanco, one of the two main religious brotherhoods that participate in Semana Santa.  She is only brought out on Holy Friday.

Nuestra Señora, La Santísima Virgen de la Amargura, Our Lady, the Holiest Virgin of Bitterness, of the Royal and Very Illustrious Order-Archconfraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary, Paso Blanco, in La Capilla del Rosario, Lorca (Murcia). 

Nuestra Señora, La Santísima Virgen de la Amargura, Our Lady, the Holiest Virgin of Bitterness, of the Royal and Very Illustrious Order-Archconfraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary, Paso Blanco, in La Capilla del Rosario, Lorca (Murcia).

One of the ornately embroidered Paso Blanco religious confraternity robes worn by the Mayordomos, who lead the processions during Holy Week in Lorca.  The outfit of these Nazarenos is Gothic inspired.  The tunic is embroidered in gold and in the place of the tympanum (triangle space on the front of the skirt of the tunic) there are depictions of the fifteen Misterios del Rosario (Mysteries of the Rosary). The hoods are meant to resemble church spires, with three-dimensional pinnacles embroidered in gold.In the Capilla del Rosario, home church of La Virgen de la Amargura. 

Manto de Betsabé (Esposa del Rey David y Madre del Rey Solomón), Bathsheba´s Cape (King David´s Wife and King Solomon´s Mother), 2011.

Caballería de la Reina de Saba Capeta del Negro (Emilio Felices, 1935), Queen of Sheba´s Cavalry, Black Abyssinian Slave´s Cloak.

 Representation in bas-relief of the costaleros-penitentes, the penitents, now both men and women, who bear the heavy floats through the streets during Holy Week, Museo de Bordados Paso Blanco, Lorca (Murcia).

The costaleros-penitentes, the penitents, now both men and women (before usually only men in most Holy Week processions), who carry the heavy floats bearing religious images for several hours through the streets during Holy Week, Lorca (Murcia).    It takes eighty-eight of these penitents from the Paso Azul (Blue group, not the Paso Blanco, or white group) to carry the float of el Misterio de la Coronación de Espinas, showing Roman soldiers escorting Christ to his crucifixion and putting a crown of thorns on his head. 

 

The Paso Azul float of el Misterio de la Coronación de Espinas, showing Roman soldiers escorting Christ to his crucifixion and putting a crown of thorns on his head. 

 The Paso Azul float of el Misterio de la Coronación de Espinas, showing Roman soldiers escorting Christ to his crucifixion and putting a crown of thorns on his head. 

Capilla del Rosario, Lorca, home of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias, one of the major Virgin figures brought out by the Paso Blanco group.  The Museo de Bordados Paso Blanco, Lorca (Murcia) Embroidery Museum, which is housed in an extension of this chapel. 

Museo de Bordados Paso Blanco, Lorca (Murcia) Embroidery Museum. 


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  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?

 

Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,

in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.

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About Gerry Dawes

My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

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Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

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