Dalmatic

DALMATIC. - A liturgical vestment proper to the deacon. It was a white, ankle-length garment, reserved for the higher classes (emperors, Roman nobles), made of linen or wool, often also of silk, adorned with two purple stripes (clavi) more or less long according to the dignity of the person wearing it. This costume passed into Roman use, and the dalmatic of the 2nd century was a wide tunic that reached down below the knee, provided with broad sleeves hanging down to the wrist. Such a vestment was worn by the bishops of the 3rd century even in civil life, as is known from St. Cyprian, who stripped off the dalmatic before his martyrdom. After various vicissitudes, in the end it remained exclusive to the clergy.

Writers tell us of its ancient use, but it is not possible to recognize with precision whose vestment it originally was.

The most common opinion is that it was
the proper vestment of the supreme pontiffs and
was granted by them to the deacons of Rome, and
not for every day, but for solemnities.
According to the Lib. Pont., St. Sylvester, pope
(314-35), permitted «ut diaconi dalmaticis in
ecclesia uterentur». Already toward the end of the
4th century the Roman author of the Quaestiones
ex Vetere Testamento, 46 (ca. 370-75) supposes that
other bishops and deacons also wore it: «hodie
diaconi induuntur dalmaticis sicut episcopi». As
appears from the mosaics of the period, in the 5th
century it was worn at Milan, in the 6th at Raven-na; to others Rome expressly granted it (for example, Symmachus [498-514] gave it to the deacons of
St. Caesarius of Arles [Vita 1. Caesarii Arel.,
I, 4], St. Gregory the Great [590-604] to the
deacons of the church of Gap, Stephen II
[752-57] to the abbot of
St. Denis of Paris).
In the 9th century the custom became prevalent
that many priests wore it under the chasuble (Walafridus Strabo, De
rerum ecclesiasticarum exordio et incremento, 24), but the Apostolic See resisted this abuse, which finally
(even before the 12th century) granted it to cardinal priests,
to abbots and to certain others. From the 12th century the dalmatic is de iure the
vestment proper to deacons, who receive it at ordination
and wear it as an outer vestment, and to bishops, cardinal
priests and other prelates, who put it on under the paenula.

In the 12th century the dalmatic was made of the same color as the
vestments, and the clavi disappeared, the characteristic distinctive mark,
which no longer made sense when the exclusive use of white was abandoned
to make room for broader stripes.
Outside Italy, already in the 9th century, people began to shorten
the ankle-length vestment to the knees, and also the sleeves.
Later, for the swiftness of movements, the dalmatic was opened
at the sides and widened in the lower part, while the two parts
remained joined almost to the hips. In the
16th century, in order to put it on more easily, it was slightly
opened above the shoulders, and to close the two openings
cords with tassels (knots) were introduced, often doubled
or tripled, hanging down the back; a custom reproduced in the
illustrations of the early editions of the Pontificale and the Ceremonial of the bishops.

According to present-day prescriptions, deacons
put on the dalmatic at solemn Mass, in processions,
in blessings and in the solemn blessing with the
Most Holy Sacrament, but it is not lawful to wear it also
for Vespers (S. Rit. Congr., decrr. 3526, 3719, 4179).
Given its festive character, from ancient times the
dalmatic has not been used on days of penance or fasting,
but is replaced with folded chasubles (Missal,
Rubr. gen., XIX).

According to the formula of Holy Ordination and the prayer that is said in putting it on, the dalmatic signifies
«a saving garment, a vestment of gladness and of
righteousness», a symbolism that easily derives from its
ancient use.

ART

The d. is a type of garment originally proper to Dalmatia, whence the name, and then it came into common use in every part of the Empire during the 2nd century. It consisted of a long garment with sleeves that was worn over the tunic, and over it the cloak could also be worn. From about the 5th century, used as a liturgical garment, numerous examples of it can be pointed out in the paintings of the catacombs, in mosaics and in the frescoes of the early Middle Ages. It then had the appearance of a long white tunic adorned, along the edges of the neck, the hem and the sleeves, with bands and embroideries.

From the 9th century, as appears in Carolingian miniatures, there were also colored d., as in the initial miniature of the Bible of Vivian in the National Library of Paris (ms. lat. I f. 423); nevertheless in Italy white d. continued to be used predominantly. In the 13th century, beyond the Alps the d. became shorter and the sleeves were also reduced in length, as in the two beautiful d. of the cathedral of Halberstadt of figured fabric with animals and anthropomorphic beings, and the other of the 14th century of the Alte Kapelle of Regensburg. The other two d. instead of Castel S. Elia, likewise of the 14th century, are similar to those seen worn by the officiants in the 13th-century frescoes of the chapel of S. Silvestro near the church of the SS. Quattro

Coronati in Rome. But toward the end of the 13th century, even in Italy the sleeves were often reduced, as in that of Boniface VIII preserved in the Treasury of Anagni. Very beautiful, a Byzantine work of the 14th century, is the d. of embroidered fabric known as that of Charlemagne in the Treasury of St. Peter's in Rome. From the Renaissance the d., by then confused with the tunicle, assumed the character that it still preserves today, and its particular value depends on the fabric with which it was made or on the embroideries that adorn it. - See plates LXXVI-LXXVII.

Emilio Lavagnino