The royal mantle, one of the symbols of Romanian royalty, along with the royal crown, the mace, the royal flag and the royal cipher, is one of the most valuable pieces in the collection of the Peleș National Museum. A symbol of supreme authority, the mantle is a piece of equipment, representative of the coronation ceremony. King Ferdinand was the first king of Romania to wear the royal mantle at his coronation, while his predecessor, King Carol I, was crowned in a general's uniform.
The artistic conception belongs to the painter of the Royal Court, Costin Petrescu and was made in Viennese workshops. It is a unique piece, executed at the command of King Ferdinand, on the occasion of the coronation in Alba Iulia, on October 15, 1922. The mantle was inspired by the gala costume of the Romanian rulers of the Middle Ages.
Costin Petrescu (1871 – 1954) came from a family of church painters. He received a scholarship to Paris, where he studied under the guidance of Jean – Paul Laurens (1838 – 1921, French painter and sculptor), at the famous Julian Academy, where Romanian painters Ştefan Luchian, Ioan Andreescu and Camil Ressu also studied. He taught at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, during which time he also participated in the Official Painting Salons. The artist painted over 50 churches, including the interior decoration of the Cathedral of the Reunification of the Nation, in Alba Iulia, also known as the Coronation Cathedral.
The mural was created in the "al fresco" technique and is in the spirit of traditional iconography. On either side of the entrance, there are portraits of the sovereigns of Greater Romania, King Ferdinand I the Unifier and Queen Maria. However, his masterpiece remains the monumental fresco at the base of the dome of the Concert Hall of the Romanian Athenaeum, "History of the Romanian People", begun in 1933 and inaugurated on May 26, 1938, consisting of 25 representative scenes from Romanian history.
The royal mantle of King Ferdinand I is made of a royal red silk fabric, ankle-length, ornamented with gold thread (brocade), with a large ermine collar, edged with ermine on the edges. The front border and the semi-oval collar, with an embroidered border on a beige velvet background, completed towards the inside and on the front side with an embroidered border with gold thread on a burgundy background, continue with seven motifs, heraldic insignia of unified Romania: the coat of arms of Wallachia, Moldavia, Dobruja, the coat of arms of the Hohenzollern family, Oltenia and Banat, Transylvania and, again, Wallachia. On the entire surface, circular motifs embroidered with the cross of the order of "Michael the Brave" are scattered. It is finished at the neck with two circular gilded silver lapels, and two groups of six applications embroidered with thread, finished at the inner ends with tassels.