Cleveland Museum of Art

Ornamental Square from a Tunic

Date

400s CE

Medium

Linen, undyed; wool, dyed; tapestry weave with supplementary weft wrapping

Culture

Egypt, Byzantine period

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Riders dressed in hunting clothes and boots hurl rocks at fleeing lions. The man wears a short tunic and the woman has a fluttering skirt. The border consists of curved acanthus leaves that enclose a chase of alternating lions and hares. This square was sewn onto a tunic rather than woven in. Hunting was a popular artistic theme in pre-Islamic traditions, including Byzantine art, and was then adopted into Islamic art.

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