The intricacies of a rare art form go on display

An exhibition of embroidered and richly adorned cloths dating to the 18th and 19th centuries bearing the image of the dead body of Christ opens on Friday at the Silversmithing Museum in the castle of Ioannina in northwestern Greece. During that period, the price of such an embroidery, known as an epitaphios, was ‘consistent with the price of gold,’ according to Andreas Lapourtas, the operational manager of the Museums Network of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, which is a co-organizer of the exhibition. The handicrafts were embroidered with silver and gold thread by workshops that were famous at the time. The epitaphios in the photo dates to 1780.