The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Curtain Panel with Scenes of Merrymaking

Curtain Panel with Scenes of Merrymaking

500s
Linen, undyed; wool: dyed; tapestry weave with supplementary weft wrapping
Overall: 144.2 x 57.1 cm (56 3/4 x 22 1/2 in.); Mounted: 153.7 x 66 x 3.2 cm (60 1/2 x 26 x 1 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund and Gift of the Textile Art Alliance in memory of Robert P. Bergman 2000.5
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The textile industry drove the Egyptian economy, dominated by the flax plant from which linen is derived.

Description

This large panel conveys merrymaking, wealth, and power through its symbolic imagery and deep purple color. It was originally part of a luxurious wide curtain with similar panels alternating with plain linen panels. Although woven in Christian Egypt, the panel is dominated by pagan subjects. A nude male stands beside a dancing female in transparent clothing in each of the three squares, alternating with centaurs (half-man, half-horse creatures) in roundels. In the central square, Dionysus, the god of wine, holds a grapevine and a weary Hercules leans on his club below. The lively animal imagery conveys wealth because few could afford animals such as lions, bulls, and hares.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” March 17, 2000, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. Mentioned: p. 2 archive.org
    Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Mentioned: p. 60-63; Reproduced: p. 61
  • Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 18, 2021-November 13, 2022).
    Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 12, 2016-May 22, 2017).
    Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 4, 2011-May 21, 2012).
    Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 12, 2000-October 25, 2001).
    Gallery 210 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11, 2000-October 21, 2001).
  • {{cite web|title=Curtain Panel with Scenes of Merrymaking|url=false|author=|year=500s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2000.5