The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 21, 2024

Fragment, Sleeve Ornament from a Tunic

Fragment, Sleeve Ornament from a Tunic

500s - early 600s
Overall: 21.6 x 20.6 cm (8 1/2 x 8 1/8 in.); Mounted: 29.8 x 28.6 cm (11 3/4 x 11 1/4 in.)

Description

This fragment originally decorated a tunic, the prevalent garment worn by adults and children around the Byzantine Mediterranean. Six square panels feature stylized human figures in various states of movement. With baskets and vessels in hand, they sit, stand, and leap within the scenes. Separating the square panels in the middle, two decorative bands depict alternating stylized figural busts, birds, baskets, and vegetal motifs. Tunic decoration such as this provided wearers a way to express their social status through clothes.
  • ?-1926
    George Dupont Pratt [1869-1935], New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1926
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 12, 2016-May 22, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment, Sleeve Ornament from a Tunic|url=false|author=|year=500s - early 600s|access-date=21 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1926.155.a