Two Fragments of an Early Textile in the Museo Cristiano

1 Studies in the Art of the Museo Cristiano of the Vatican Library (VII), edited by C. R. Morey and E. Baldwin Smith.

Abstract

In the Sancta Sanctorum treasury of the Vatican there are two silk fragments which were originally part of the same textile. They are exceptionally good examples of Early Christian art, and it would be of some importance to our knowledge of Early Christian iconography to know their provenance and date. The textile in its original state once portrayed various scenes from the Gospels in rows of interlaced medallions about thirty centimeters in diameter. In each fragment the ground of the textile and of the medallion is crimson red. The ornamented border of the medallions represents, on a white ground, three different flower patterns, with their leaves and buds, all attached to a single continuous stem. The colors used in the textiles are red, white, orange, green, and dark purple.² The borders of the medallions are bounded on inside and out by thin fillets composed of alternating beads and bars, the bars repeating a definite system of alternating colors. The spaces between the medallions are ornamented with an acanthusized palmette motif.