Gloves: Detail of the Setúbal Altarpiece, Jorge Afonso's workshop, 1520-1530 AD

Gloves were almost unknown in Medieval times; in England surviving 16th-century gloves are extremely decorative and often attributed to personalities like Queen Elizabeth. The altarpiece panel with saints with saints Bonaventure, Anthony and Bernardino of Sienna, shows a bishop (St Bonaventure) wearing gloves so fine they are practically transparent. Some rings are worn over the fingers of the glove, and a jewel sewn on the hand.

© 1998 Oxfordshire Museum Service, Setúbal Museums and the Benaki Museum