The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 6, 2023

Fragment with Satyr and Maenad

300s

Egypt, Byzantine period, 4th century

Undyed linen and dyed wool; plain weave ground with tapestry weave

Overall: 139 x 86.4 cm (54 3/4 x 34 in.); Mounted: 153.6 x 100.4 x 3.9 cm (60 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 1 9/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1975.6

Location

106A Migration Period & Coptic

Description

This tapestry ranks among the crowning achievements of 4th-century Egyptian textiles. These sculptural figures originally stood with many others under an arcade more than 24 feet wide. Halos proclaim the special status of the graceful satyr, identified in Greek, who is dressed in a spotted skin standing beside an elegant nude maenad adorned with gold jewelry. Satyrs and maenads were followers of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, whose cult flourished especially in Egypt among the educated of all religions. Presumably this extravagant hanging was commissioned for cultic or theatrical festivities.

Inscriptions

Inscription

the satyr is identified by an inscription above his head.

Provenance
(Nicolas Koutoulakis, Conches-Geneva, Switzerland).
Citations
Thomas, Thelma K., Jennifer Ball, Edward Bleiberg, Kathrin Colburn, Helen C. Evans, Christine Kondoleon, Brandie Ratliff, and Elizabeth Dospel Williams. Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. 2016. 26
Susan MacMillan Arensberg. "Dionysos: A Late Antique Tapestry." Boston Museum Bulletin 75 (1977): p. 4-25 www.jstor.org
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Late Classical Tapestry." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 10 (1976): p. 307-13, fig. 1, 3, 9, cover illus www.jstor.org
Weitzmann, Kurt. "The Late Roman World." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 35, no. 2 (1977): 2-96. p. 24, no. 2, color p. 25
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 36 archive.org
Weitzmann, Kurt. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century : Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 19, 1977, Through February 12, 1978. New York: The Metropolitan Museum, 1979. p. 144-46, no. 124, illus p. 145
Rutschowscaya, Marie-Hélène. Coptic Fabrics. Paris, France: Adam Biro, 1990. p. 87
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 13 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 40-41, no. 3
Thomas, Thelma K. "Material Meaning in Late Antiquity." In Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. Thelma K. Thomas, ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 1-1.5
Exhibition history

Late antique and Early Christian Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (November 18, 1977-February 12, 1978).

Gallery 210 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 13-August 8, 2001); (February 4-August 5, 2002); (February 3-August 4, 2003); (February 3-August 11, 2004)

Gallery 106 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 13, 2010-April 1, 2011); (September 14, 2011-March 26, 2012); (March 18-September 23, 2013); (March 17-September 22, 2014); (March 2-September 8, 2015); (May 1-October 30, 2017); (April 30-October 29, 2018); (April 29-August 9, 2019); (January 23, 2020-).

The Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, 3rd - 7th Century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (November 18, 1977-February 12, 1978).

Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008).

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, NY, New York, NY (February 25-May 22, 2016).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.6