A COPTIC TEXTILE ALTAR MANTLE

CIRCA 15TH-16TH CENTURY A.D.

细节

A COPTIC TEXTILE ALTAR MANTLE
circa 15th-16th century a.d.
Arranged as a frieze in a long, rectangular format, framed by a double-X border, inscribed above and below, the letters embroidered in black, with fourteen figures arranged frontally, five figures on either side heraldically framing the Crucifixion of Christ together with the two thieves, a woman holding an infant, perhaps the Virgin and Child, adjacent to the Crucifix, each figure tightly embroidered on a linen ground, now browning with age, the figures gesturing, some as orantes, others with hands along their sides, some with hands clasped at their chests, some individually carry a chalice, cross, the Gospels, and a lamp
98 in. (249.6 cm.) long

拍品专文

For a tunic embroidered in the same fashion see p. 649 in Bourguet, Muse National du Louvre Catalogue des toffes coptes. Other examples are in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, no. T162.1928, the Benaki Museum, Athens, no. 214, and the Kelsey Museum, Ann Arbor, no. 2660.