Bishop's mitre

All of the feather work you can see here is in the form of feather mosaics. This technique was developed and refined by Aztec craftsmen in the last decades before the Spanish conquest. They made ritual feather objects for their rulers, for respected warriors, for priests but also for statues of the gods. The Europeans were amazed at this masterful artistic feather work. Soon they had feather objects made for themselves. The Catholic priests also used the feather craftsmen to make religious objects for them, for example images of saints, two of which are shown here. And the wonderful bishop’s mitre, made completely from feathers, is an incredible and very beautiful piece of craftsmanship. This bishop’s mitre made of tiny iridescent feathers must have looked amazing in sunlight. Now the new spiritual leaders, the Catholic priests, wore headdresses made of precious feathers, which no doubt helped them in their missionary work.