Fragments of a cover - fragment of a panelled cover

In the middle of the fragment is an eagle with spread wings (symbolizing St John the Evangelist) and with a scroll in its claws bearing an inscription: 1665: DIAUGUSIS BARKOCZI MARIA. The eagle is enclosed by diagonal flowers. The border is a later addition with Turkish motifs of pomegranate buds and blossoms. The pattern of the eagle follows Western European books of lace and embroidery. Its earliest variant can be found in the first volume of the pattern book Corona delle nobili et viruose donne (Venice, 1600) of Cesare Vecellio: there is a bough in the claws of the eagle instead of the scroll. In later pattern books several variants of the same pattern can be found. In Hungary, mainly filet works were decorated with Evangelist figures. The best examples of this are the tablecloths of Kata Bethlen at Olthéviz, Debrecen, Gyulafehérvár and Magyarkirályfalva. The size, shape, the later border and the inscription replacing the name of St. John suggest that Maria Barkóczi, wife of István Holler, Lord Lieutenant of Kükülkő renewed an older fragment of a tablecloth and presented it to the cathedral in Kassa.