id: 161684 accession number: 2000.5 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2000.5 updated: 2022-05-17 09:00:20.966000 Curtain Panel with Scenes of Merrymaking, 500s. Egypt, Byzantine period. Linen, undyed; wool: dyed; tapestry weave with supplementary weft wrapping; overall: 144.2 x 57.1 cm (56 3/4 x 22 1/2 in.); mounted: 153.7 x 66 x 3.2 cm (60 1/2 x 26 x 1 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund and Gift of the Textile Art Alliance in memory of Robert P. Bergman 2000.5 title: Curtain Panel with Scenes of Merrymaking title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 500s creation date earliest: 500 creation date latest: 599 current location: 106A Migration Period & Coptic creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund and Gift of the Textile Art Alliance in memory of Robert P. Bergman copyright: --- culture: Egypt, Byzantine period technique: Linen, undyed; wool: dyed; tapestry weave with supplementary weft wrapping department: Textiles collection: T - Coptic type: Textile find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 144.2 x 57.1 cm (56 3/4 x 22 1/2 in.); Mounted: 153.7 x 66 x 3.2 cm (60 1/2 x 26 x 1 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation opening date: 2000-09-12T04:00:00 Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 12, 2000-October 25, 2001). title: Coptic Textile Rotation opening date: 2011-04-04T04:00:00 Coptic Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 4, 2011-May 21, 2012). title: Coptic Textile Rotation opening date: 2016-04-12T04:00:00 Coptic Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 12, 2016-May 22, 2017). title: Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106 opening date: 2021-11-18T05:00:00 Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 18, 2021-November 13, 2022). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Gallery 210 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11, 2000-October 21, 2001). --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: The textile industry drove the Egyptian economy, dominated by the flax plant from which linen is derived. digital description: wall description: This large panel conveys merrymaking, wealth, and power through its symbolic imagery and deep purple color. It was originally part of a luxurious wide curtain with similar panels alternating with plain linen panels. Although woven in Christian Egypt, the panel is dominated by pagan subjects. A nude male stands beside a dancing female in transparent clothing in each of the three squares, alternating with centaurs (half-man, half-horse creatures) in roundels. In the central square, Dionysus, the god of wine, holds a grapevine and a weary Hercules leans on his club below. The lively animal imagery conveys wealth because few could afford animals such as lions, bulls, and hares. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” March 17, 2000, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: Mentioned: p. 2 url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4321 Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. page number: Mentioned: p. 60-63; Reproduced: p. 61 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2000.5/2000.5_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2000.5/2000.5_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2000.5/2000.5_full.tif