Two Figures Framed by a Jeweled Border (450–550 CE): Art, History and Details

Two Figures Framed by a Jeweled Border (450–550 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This weaving depicts a haloed man and woman. However, it once had a third figure at left. The textile was damaged before its 1979 acquisition; only the third figure’s partial halo and shoes remained. Staff decided to “close the gap” around the missing area and remove the shoes. While creating a “complete” image, that removal affects our ability to understand the weaving’s subject. Many questions remain: Who are the man and woman? His red cap may identify him as an “Easterner” or a freeman. Who was their missing companion? Continuing research will consider biblical and Greek mythological stories in which threads play a role.

Object facts

• Title: Two Figures Framed by a Jeweled Border
• Date: 450–550 CE
• Culture: Byzantine Empire (Egypt)
• Type: Textile
• Technique: wool, linen, and dye
• Dimensions: Overall: 24.1 x 28.6 cm (9 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.); Mounted: 33 x 37.5 cm (13 x 14 3/4 in.)
• Collection: T - Coptic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1979.58

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.
• 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.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.