COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
CMA_.2000.5
AMICA Library Year:
2001
Object Type:
Textiles
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Anatolian; Byzantine
Creator Name-CRT:
Egypt, Byzantine period, 6th Century
Title:
Panel with Scenes of Revelry and Abundance from a Large Curtain
Title Type:
Primary
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
500s
Creation Start Date:
500
Creation End Date:
599
Materials and Techniques:
tapestry weave with supplementary weft wrapping; undyed linen and dyed wool
Dimensions:
Overall: 0cm x 143.5cm
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number:
2000.5
Credit Line:
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund and Gift of the Textile Art Alliance in memory of Robert P. Bergman
Context:
This large panel conveys power and wealth through its deep purple color and symbolic imagery. It was originally part of a luxurious wide curtain featuring similar wool and linen panels alternating with areas of plainer linen. Though woven in Christian Egypt, pagan subjects dominate and invoke scenes of revelry. In each of the three squares a nude male stands beside a dancing female in transparent clothing; they alternate with centaurs (half-man, half-horse) in roundels. In the central square, Dionysus holds a grapevine and a weary Herakles leans on his club below. The lively animal imagery reinforces opulence, since few could afford such animals: lions, bulls, hares, a bear, boar, donkey, dog, and a stag.
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.2000.5.tif
