The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 30, 2023

Fibula with Solar Design

c. 700–675 BC

Greece, Boeotian, 7th Century BC

Bronze

Overall: 15.4 x 11.2 cm (6 1/16 x 4 7/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1999.9

Location

102B Greek

Fun Fact

A fibula is an ancient safety pin that held garments in place.

Description

The crescent body of this bronze fibula (brooch) features both incised and punched decoration. Three sets of three arrows have been interpreted as indicating the daily route of the sun, shown at the arc’s center as a series of radiating punch marks within a shallowly incised circle. When worn, the arc may have hung downward, a large ornamental addition to the functional pin used to secure its wearer’s clothing.

Provenance
-1999
(Kunst der Antike, Basel, Switzerland, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1999-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Cleveland Museum of Art, Frederick E. Bidwell, and Leslie Cade. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. 2014. Mentioned and illustrated, pp. 88-89.
Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Reproduced: p. 28 no. 8; Mentioned: p. 115, no. 8
Exhibition history

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.9