Coptic Textile Fragment, 600 CE - 800 CE
Textile
2 x 11.75
P.4489
Further images
As the Classical age drew to a close, the flowering of Christian Egypt produced a remarkable textile art. This tunic decoration, called a clavus, depicts motifs that are both pagan...
As the Classical age drew to a close, the flowering of Christian Egypt produced a remarkable textile art. This tunic decoration, called a clavus, depicts motifs that are both pagan and Christian, a mixing of imagery not uncommon in Late Antiquity. A saint, apostle or evangelist, his head surrounded with a nimbus, shares space with flying spirits and wild beasts. Such a colorful masterpiece of the weaver's art seems to sum up the vitality, the vivid excitement of the age that created it.
Literature
V1