San Vitale mosaic c.jpg

A mosaic near the apse of the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, depicts Theodora, consort of the emperor Justinian, holding a golden chalice, another woman holding a eucharistic cloth or maniple, and two other women with fringed cloths tucked into their belts, circa 550 AD. (Wikimedia Commons/Carlo Pelagalli)