id: 151044 accession number: 1982.73 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1982.73 updated: 2023-05-26 11:03:22.463000 Hanging with Christian Images, 500s. Egypt, Byzantine period, 6th century. Plain weave (tabby) with inwoven tapestry weave; dyed wool, undyed linen; overall: 110.5 x 76.8 cm (43 1/2 x 30 1/4 in.); mounted: 120.9 x 87 x 3.9 cm (47 5/8 x 34 1/4 x 1 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1982.73 title: Hanging with Christian Images title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 500s creation date earliest: 500 creation date latest: 599 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Egypt, Byzantine period, 6th century technique: plain weave (tabby) with inwoven tapestry weave; dyed wool, undyed linen department: Textiles collection: T - Coptic type: Textile find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 110.5 x 76.8 cm (43 1/2 x 30 1/4 in.); Mounted: 120.9 x 87 x 3.9 cm (47 5/8 x 34 1/4 x 1 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: inscribed below the ankh cross: IXOYC. translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Year in Review for 1982 opening date: 1983-01-05T05:00:00 The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983). title: Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation opening date: 2002-10-16T04:00:00 Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 16, 2002-October 27, 2003). title: Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2007-05-10T00:00:00 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). title: Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106 opening date: 2012-05-23T04:00:00 Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 23, 2012-May 2, 2013). title: Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106 opening date: 2018-05-15T04:00:00 Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 15, 2018-May 13, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Jean-Loup Despras, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art). date: -1982 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1982- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The two peacocks in the upper half of this composition represent immortality. Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the body of the peacock did not decay after death and when this imagery was adopted by Christianity, the bird came to be associated with resurrection. digital description: wall description: The significance of this rare hanging with Christian symbols outweighs its fragmentary condition. It likely served as a decorative wall hanging in a church or a home. Beneath the entablature of the arch decorated with interlacing bands stand three young men dressed in tunics, their arms raised. They may represent the three Hebrews who refused to worship a golden idol, and when cast into the fiery furnace, remained unharmed due to God’s deliverance (Daniel 3:19–30). Above them is a Christogram formed by the first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek, X (chi) and P (rho), flanked by the letters alpha and omega. Beneath the arch, an ankh, an ancient Egyptian symbol of life, is framed by two birds. Another Christogram appears above the arch between two peacocks. The significance of the combined use of these images and symbols lies in their invocation of Christ’s redemptive and life-giving power. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (1983) page number: no. 75, p. 53, illus. p. 25 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159799 Klein, Holger A. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 68-69, no. 17 url: Williams, Elizabeth Dospěl. "Sacred Imagery." In Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt, 63-68. Washington: The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 2019. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 65-66, fig. 13 url: Sörries, Reiner. Der frühchristliche Kirchenraum: Ikonographie - Ausstattung - Liturgie. 2020. page number: Mentioned: p. 128; reproduced: Tafel 54, Abb. 80b url: Sánchez Galera, José María, and Gregorio Luri Medrano. La edad de las nueces: los niños en el Imperio Romano. Madrid : Ediciones Encuentro S.A., 2021. page number: Reproduced: p. 316, fig. 41 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1982.73/1982.73_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1982.73/1982.73_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1982.73/1982.73_full.tif