COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1966.368
AMICA Library Year:
2002
Object Type:
Textiles
Creator Nationality:
European; Iberian; Spanish
Creator Name-CRT:
Spain, Almeria ?, Nasrid period, mid-13th century (Islamic)
Title:
Fragment from a Large Hanging
Title Type:
Primary
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
1200s
Creation Start Date:
1200
Creation End Date:
1299
Materials and Techniques:
weft-faced plain weave with tapestry decoration; silk and gold thread
Classification Term:
Tapestries
Dimensions:
Overall: 21.2cm x 58.5cm
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number:
1966.368
Credit Line:
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Inscriptions:
Arabic inscription bordering the roundels translates: "There is no god but God."
Provenance:
reportedly from tomb of Don Arnaldo de Gurb, Bishop of Barcelona (d. 1284). Montaner-Capmany, Barcelona; (Arturo Ramon Garriga, Barcelona).
Context:
This rare silk fragment and several others were reportedly found in the tomb of Bishop Gurb (died 1284) in the Cathedral of Barcelona in about 1890. Thrown into the street as "rubbish," they were retrieved and preserved. The original luxurious hanging of brightly colored silk and shiny gold thread displayed rows of figural roundels on a plain ground with elaborate borders across the top and bottom. The two turbaned men holding flasks flanking a palmette tree and the turbaned rider with a flying scarf were derived from the ancient Near Eastern imperial themes of the banquet and hunt. The Arabic inscription framing each roundel proclaims, "There is no god but Allah."
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.AM20020628.tif
