PIVIALE (Pluviale, cappa, mantus). - A liturgical mantle of semicircular shape, reaching almost to the feet, open at the front and fastened on the chest with a clasp. On the back it is adorned with the so-called "shield."
It does not derive from the ancient lacerna, nor from the ancient paenula, since these had long been out of civil use when the p. began to be used in liturgical worship. It seems rather to derive from the choral or monastic cappa of the 8th and 9th centuries, distinguished from the bell-shaped planeta of the same form because it was open at the front (or at least had openings for the hands) and was equipped with a hood, which was worn in choir and processions, made of wool for daily use and of silk for feast days. In the 9th century it was not yet counted among liturgical vestments (Amalarius still designates the planeta as the common liturgical vestment of the entire clergy). From the 10th century, cantors began to use the festive cappa instead of the planeta, following the priests in functions outside of the Holy Mass, especially at the incensation during Lauds and Vespers (whence the German name Rauchmantel = incense mantle; Vespermantel = Vespers mantle). By the end of the 11th century, the cappa had become a liturgical vestment for all functions outside the Holy Mass, while the planeta remained exclusively for the Holy Mass; and it was worn not only by priests or bishops, but by all the clergy, cantors, and minor ministers. In Italy the name p. is preferred because it has the form of a mantle that protects from rain and bad weather, while outside Italy it is called cappa, and in Spain also mantus. It is usually made of silk and follows the rules of liturgical colors.
ART. - As for its form, originally the p. did not differ from the bell-shaped planeta except for being equipped with a hood; it was not always open at the front, but from the 11th century onward the open cappa prevailed definitively and its shape has not changed to this day.
The ornaments and the hood, however, underwent various transformations; the former, from very simple and narrow, gradually widened and were adorned with embroidery, especially with figures; the latter, from the 11th century onward, lost its function as a hood and in the second half of the 12th century became a mere ornament, its size diminished and it was reduced to a miniature hood. Examples of this type of transition remain in the cathedral of Halberstadt (12th century) and in S. Paolo in Carinthia (13th century). Already in the 13th century the tiny hood had been transformed into a small triangular piece of cloth, which still recalled the hood only by its shape. In the 14th and 15th centuries the triangle slowly changed into a shield (clipeus) of ever-increasing proportions, and in the second half of the 15th century it took the form of a pointed arch; then of a semicircle; in the Baroque period it became oval, reaching in width even beyond half of the garment. In the Middle Ages the clasps of the p. were of great importance; inventories give an idea of their richness and even more so some splendid surviving examples. More numerous are those adorned with figures (cathedral of Aachen, Museum of Arts and Crafts in Berlin); rarer are those adorned with precious stones and pearls (S. Peter in Salzburg, cathedral of Aosta). Along the edge of the p. there is sometimes a fringe, a braid, or even bells in the manner of pendants (cathedral of Aachen).
The use of the p. must have increased over the centuries, as documented by inventories; in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, increasingly numerous precious p. made of splendid fabrics are listed (cf. the inventory of the cathedral of Prague of 1387 and that of Lincoln Cathedral of 1536). From the Middle Ages there survive p. entirely embroidered with figures set in round or quadrangular fields, arranged in parallel series along the straight side of the p. or in concentric zones. Most of this type, of which magnificent examples also exist in Italy, comes from England, particularly renowned for this kind of needlework, which in the 13th and 14th centuries took the name of opus Anglicanum. Among the oldest of these historiated p. (13th century) are that of S. Paolo in Carinthia with the Stories of SS. Blaise and Vincent, that of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; in Italy those of Ascoli Piceno, Anagni, and the Civic Museum of Bologna. Embroidery of Cypriot-Palermitan type, in gold on red jasper, with confronted parrots, is found in the p. of Boniface VIII in Anagni and in that of S. Corona in Vicenza. The 14th century boasts the splendid examples from the cathedral of Pienza, S. Giovanni in Laterano, Toledo, Comminges, and Salzburg. Exceptional in the 15th century are the three p. of the Order of the Golden Fleece in the Court Museum of Vienna, all the more so since after the 13th century the type of p. with embroidery only on the shield and the ornaments is much more common. Notable examples of this type are in S. Maria in Danzig, the cathedral of Xanten, and the Bern Museum. In later times the entire p. is adorned with ornamental motifs, and only the shield and the ornaments are embroidered with figures; a fine example is the p. in gold tapestry in the church of Gandino, the so-called p. of Urban V in Montefiascone, and another in the Treasury of the cathedral of Aosta. Internally adorned with floral motifs are the p. of the church of S. Donato in Siena and of the pieve of S. Lorenzo in Montefiesole. Examples of sumptuous garden-like coloring are the p. of the Venetian school from the early 16th century in S. Tomà in Venice and in the Larcade collection in St-Germain-en-Laye; also Venetian work is the p. in brocaded velvet with the Annunciation and eight figures of saints in the National Museum of Florence and that of the cathedral of Recanati. Notable is that of the cathedral of Genoa, whose designs are attributed to Pierin del Vaga. Fantastic motifs inspired by Oriental art are found in the 18th-century p. of the cathedral of Ancona, and a masterpiece of fine fabrics is the 18th-century p. of the basilica of Gandino, similar to a set from the basilica of Alzano Maggiore and another from the church of the Ospedale Maggiore in Bergamo. - See pl. CXII-CXIII.