The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 13, 2024

Icon of the Virgin and Child

500s

Egypt, Byzantine period

slit-and dovetailed-tapestry weave; wool

Overall: 178.7 x 110.5 cm (70 3/8 x 43 1/2 in.); Mounted: 197.4 x 128.2 x 6.4 cm (77 11/16 x 50 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1967.144

Location: 003 Special Exhibition Hall

Did You Know?

Created in Egypt's hot and dry desert climate, this tapestry features a border of lush greenery and fruits, while flowers peek out from around the throne of the Virgin. Imagine encountering this artistic oasis in a Coptic church during the dry heat of the day.

Description

Woven from more than 20 colors of woolen thread, this tapestry was more expensive than a painting when it was made. It is among the rarest works now at the CMA. The historical price reflected contemporary viewers’ appreciation for the weavers’ skilled color blending. Hung on a wall, this tapestry allowed viewers to venerate, or honor, the image of the Virgin Mary and Christ child. Angels and apostles surround them, their names written in Greek. The makers’ talents also contributed to its success as an icon. To be spiritually effective, an Orthodox icon must be as close to its original model as possible.

?-1967
(Mrs. Paul Mallon, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art).
1967-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Schiller, Gertrud. Ikonographie der Christlichen Kunst. [Gütersloh]: Gütersloher Verlagshaus G. Mohn, 1966. Mentioned: Vol. 4, Pt. 2, P. 21, abb. 413: Reproduced: Vol. 4, Pt. 2, P. 267, abb. 413
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 37 archive.org
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "An Icon of the Virgin." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 1 (1969) p. 2, cover www.jstor.org
Shepherd, D. (1969). An Icon of the Virgin: A Sixth-Century Tapestry Panel from Egypt. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 56(3) pp. 90-120, covers www.jstor.org
Frazer, Margaret English. "The Djumati Enamels: A Twelfth-Century Litany of Saints." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 28, no. 6 (1970). fig. 4 www.jstor.org
Rademacher, Franz. Die Regina Angelorum in der Kunst des frühen Mittelalters. Düsseldorf: Schwann, 1972. p. 29, nr. 15
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Late Classical Tapestry." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 10 (1976). p. 311, fig. 10 www.jstor.org
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and Anna G. Bennett. Acts of the Tapestry Symposium, November, 1976. [San Francisco]: The Museums, 1979. p. 7, fig. 7
Weitzmann, Kurt, and Margaret English Frazer. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century ; Based on the Catalogue to the Exhibition "Age of Spirituality", Metropolitan Museum New York, 1977. [New York, NY]: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. p. 532-33, no. 477 books.google.com
Weitzmann, Kurt. "The Late Roman World." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 35, no. 2 (1977). p. 80 www.jstor.org
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Margaret English Frazer, and Kurt Weitzmann. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Museum, 1977. p. 80, no. 69
Sampaolesi, Piero, "Zibaldone delle Arti, Mostri: 'Age of Spirituality,' New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Antichita Viva, XVI, 5 (1977). p. 64
Weitzmann, Kurt. "Late Antique and Early Christian Art." Archaeology 30, no. 6 (1977) p. 417 www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 36 archive.org
Weitzmann, Kurt. The Icon: Holy Images--Sixth to Fourteenth Century. New York: G. Braziller, 1978. pl. 4
Ball, Victoria Kloss. Architecture and Interior Design. New York: Wiley, 1980. pl. 9
Schiller, Gertrud, and Rupert Schreiner. Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst. Gütersloh: G. Mohn, 1980. p. 21, fig. 413
Kajitani, Nobuko, "Koputo gire" (English title: "Coptic fabrics"), Semshoku no bi, no. 13 (Kyoto, 1981). p. 34, pl. 44
Galavaris, George. The Icon in the Life of the Church: Doctrine, Liturgy, Devotion. Leiden: Brill, 1981. Mentioned: P. 13, 26; Reproduced: pl. VIIb
McGinn, Bernard, John Meyendorff, and Jean Leclercq. Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century. New York: Crossroad, 2000. Fig. 31, p. 437
Thomas, Michel, Christine Mainguy, and Sophie Pommier. Textile Art. Geneva, Switzerland: Skira, 1985. p. 35
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Woolley, Linda, "Pagan Classical Christian: Egyptian Hangings of the 4th to 7th Centuries," Hali, No. 48 (Dec. 1989), pp. 27-37
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Imago Dei. 1990. p. 18, fig. 8, cover
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Reader's Digest, "The Bible Through the Ages," Reader's Digest (Pleasantville, NY, 199?). p. 237
Cleveland Museum of Art. Masterpieces from East and West. New York, NY: Rizzoli International, 1992. p. 23
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Adolph S. Cavallo. Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993. p. 62, fig. 77
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Vasilakē, Maria. Mother of God: Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art. Milano: Skira, 2000. p. 224, fig. 170
Orsini, Jacqueline. Mary: Images of the Holy Mother. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000. pp. 80-81, no. 60
Lee, A. D. Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, 2000. p. 259, fig. 14.12.a
May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. p. 116
Rosenwein, Barbara H. A Short History of the Middle Ages. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press, 2002. pp. 7, 102
Bolman, Elizabeth S., and Patrick Godeau. Monastic Visions: Wall Paintings in the Monastery of St. Antony at the Red Sea. New Haven, CT: American Research Center in Egypt/Yale University Press, 2002. p. 33, fig. 3.5
Rosenwein, Barbara H. A Short History of the Middle Ages. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press, 2004. p. 53, pl. 1.10
Mathews, Thomas F. and Norman Muller. Isis and Mary in Early Icons." In Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium. Maria Vasilakē, 1-9. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005. Mention: p. 8, note # 24
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Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. pp. 42-45, no. 6
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Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 70, cat. no. 18
Moor, A. de, and Cäcilia Fluck. Clothing the House: Furnishing Textiles of the 1st Millennium AD from Egypt and Neighbouring Countries : Proceedings of the 5th Conference of the Research Group "Textiles from the Nile Valley" Antwerp, 6-7 October 2007. Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo Publishers, 2009. pp. 148-49, fig. 2
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Africa & Byzantium. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (November 14, 2023-March 3, 2024); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (co-organizer) (April 14-July 21, 2024).
Woven Interiors: Early Medieval Textiles of the Eastern Mediterranean. The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Washington, DC (organizer) (August 31, 2019-January 5, 2020).
Gallery 106 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 31-September 13, 2010); (April 1-September 14, 2011); (March 26, 2012-March 18, 2013); (September 23, 2013-March 17, 2014); (September 22, 2014-March 2, 2015); (September 8, 2015-May 1, 2016); (October 30, 2017-April 30, 2018); (October 29, 2018-April 29, 2019).
Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008).
Gallery 210 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 6, 2000-July 12, 2000); (September 5, 2000-February 12, 2001); (August 8, 2001-February 4, 2002); (August 5, 2002-February 3, 2003); (August 4, 2003-February 3, 2004); (August 5, 2004-July 18, 2005).
The Age of Spirituality. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (November 19, 1977- February, 12, 1978).
Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).
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Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1967.144