The Richard III Pall. A cloth for a king’s farewell.
In March 2015, a cloth of embroidered silk lay over the coffin of King Richard III as he was reinterred at Leicester Cathedral. The Pall was placed by four peers descended from those who fought at the Battle of Bosworth, and it remained in place through three days of lying in repose. During that time, 20,000 people came to pay their respects while ex-service men stood guard around the coffin.
The Pall was made by Jacquie Binns, the acclaimed textile artist and designer, using freehand machine embroidery.
Each long side of the Pall tells a different part of the story. One side features nine figures representing the past, among them Anne Neville and Edward, Richard’s wife and son, and St Martin, to whom the Cathedral is dedicated. An anonymous mourner also appears, recalling the medieval custom of a paid mourner at a graveside.
The other side shows nine figures connected with the rediscovery and reinterment of Richard III. They represent the City of Leicester, the Archaeology Department at the University of Leicester, and The Richard III Society, the people whose work brought the king home.
Six seraphim, the highest order of angels, appear on all four sides of the Pall. They are there as a form of spiritual protection for Richard, joining the earthly and heavenly realms in a single design.
The Pall can now be seen in the Cathedral’s Samworth Gallery.
The Pall shows how cathedral textiles can mark moments of national significance as well as everyday worship. Made for one of the most widely watched reinterments in modern history, it combines contemporary machine embroidery with centuries-old symbolism, and it carries the story of a king, a city and the many people who played a part in it.
See all of wonderful Threads of Faith entries here.
