The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 10, 2023

Lampas with griffins in roundels, from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral

1100–50

Spain, Almeria

Silk and gold thread: lampas and plain-weave variant

Overall: 52.7 x 63.5 cm (20 3/4 x 25 in.); Mounted: 61 x 71.1 cm (24 x 28 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1952.152

Location

not on view

Description

Mirrored griffins with gold heads dominate these roundels, as they turn their heads unnaturally to stare at each other across their wing tips. The pairs of dragons in the framing border, however, have lost their artistic impact since the green silk thread has disintegrated into brown specks.

Luxury silks woven in Islamic Spain were worn by Christian kings throughout Europe. Their patterns also influenced designs in Jewish synagogues and were the standard aesthetic of the elaborately decorated walls in the Muslim Alhambra palace in Granada. This silk is from the reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral, northeast of Madrid.

Provenance
the silk fragment was found c. 1948 in the Cathedral of Siguenza, Spain, in the reliquary of Saint Librada (1st c.) , whose relics were restored to the Cathedral in the 12th century; it is said to have been brought there from Almeria in 1147 by Alphonse VII
?-1952
(Paul O. Berliz, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1952-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
New York University. Spanish Medieval Art. Loan Exhibition in Honor of Dr. Walter W.S. Cook. 1954. p. 22, no. 70
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "Two Hispano-Islamic Silks in Diasper Weave." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 1 (1955): 6-10. p. 6-10 www.jstor.org
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Dated Hispano-Islamic Silk." Ars Orientalis 2 (1957): 373-82. pl. 10, fig. B www.jstor.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 121 archive.org
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. 178-179, fig. 5.9; Mentioned: P. 180, 215
Orlando, Anna, and Guido Rossi. Il re denaro: le monete raccontano Genova fra arte, lusso e parsimonia. Genova : Sagep editori, 2021. Mentioned: P. 250-251; Reproduced: P. 251, fig. 4
Exhibition history

Spanish Medieval Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, New York, NY (December 15, 1954-January 30, 1955).

Gallery 216. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July, 1991).

Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).

Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2013-December 15, 2014).

Al-Andalus: Art from Islamic Spain (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 2019-October 25, 2020).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.152