Cleveland Museum of Art

Fragment, Sleeve Ornament from a Tunic

Date

500s - early 600s

Medium

tapestry (probably originally inwoven in tabby ground); wool

Culture

Egypt, Byzantine period

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This fragment originally decorated a tunic, the prevalent garment worn by adults and children around the Byzantine Mediterranean. Six square panels feature stylized human figures in various states of movement. With baskets and vessels in hand, they sit, stand, and leap within the scenes. Separating the square panels in the middle, two decorative bands depict alternating stylized figural busts, birds, baskets, and vegetal motifs. Tunic decoration such as this provided wearers a way to express their social status through clothes.

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