The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Fragment with confronted sphinxes in roundels from the tomb of Saint Bernard Calvo

Fragment with confronted sphinxes in roundels from the tomb of Saint Bernard Calvo

1200–43
Silk and gold thread: lampas, taqueté, and plain-weave variant
Overall: 54.6 x 65.4 cm (21 1/2 x 25 3/4 in.); Mount: 66.7 x 76.8 cm (26 1/4 x 30 1/4 in.); Framed: 69.2 x 79.4 cm (27 1/4 x 31 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1950.394
Location: not on view

Description

Composite creatures, such as winged lions and sphinxes, predate the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. Islamic textiles continued to include them for centuries after the Arab conquest of Spain. Pairs of lions with gold faces rear up to bite the haunches of the winged beasts. In between the roundels are pairs of peacocks, motifs traceable to pre-Islamic Persian art that spread throughout the Islamic world, including Spain.

The body of Saint Bernard Calvo, the Catholic Bishop of Vich in 1233–43, was wrapped in textiles, including these fragments that still retain traces of his blood.
  • from tomb of St. Bernard Calvo, (Bishop of Vich, 1233-1243), who died in 1243; this fragment from one of vestments found in tomb at the Cathedral of Vich when it was opened at the end of the 19th century
    ?-1950
    (Paul O. Berliz, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1950-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Shepherd, Dorothy G. "Another Silk from the Tomb of Saint Bernard Calvo." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 38, no. 4 (1951): 74-79. p. 74-5 25141705.
    New York University. Spanish Medieval Art. Loan Exhibition in Honor of Dr. Walter W.S. Cook. 1954. p. 22 no. 67
    Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Dated Hispano-Islamic Silk." Ars Orientalis 2 (1957): 373-82. p. 373, pl. 8, fig. B 4629043.
    May, Florence Lewis. Silk Textiles of Spain, Eighth to Fifteenth Century. New York: Printed by order of the trustees, the Hispanic Society of America, 1957. pp. 44, 48; fig. 30
    Baer, Eva. Sphinxes and Harpies in Medieval Islamic Art; An Iconographical Study. Jerusalem: Israel Oriental Society, 1965. p. 6, footnote 16
    Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Reproduced: P. 176, fig. 5.7; Mentioned: P. 177
  • Al-Andalus: Art from Islamic Spain (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 2019-October 25, 2020).
    Spanish Medieval Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, New York (December 15, 1954-January 30, 1955).
    35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment with confronted sphinxes in roundels from the tomb of Saint Bernard Calvo|url=false|author=|year=1200–43|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.394