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Source Description
This textile fragment depicts followers of Dionysus, the ancient Greco-Roman god of wine and merriment. A maenad, or female follower, prances in front of columns and archways, nude except for her opulent gold jewelry and pink veil. She gazes at the man, who wears a hair wreath and spotted leopard skin. A Greek inscription beside his halo confirms his identity as a satyr (a male follower). The weaver skillfully blended colors and fibers to produce the illusion of shadows and movement in the two bodies. Though Christianity was the official religion, many pagan motifs endured as creative references.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
148336
label
Fragment with Satyr and Maenad
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
148336
contentType
object
title
Fragment with Satyr and Maenad
description
This textile fragment depicts followers of Dionysus, the ancient Greco-Roman god of wine and merriment. A maenad, or female follower, prances in front of columns and archways, nude except for her opulent gold jewelry and pink veil. She gazes at the man, who wears a hair wreath and spotted leopard skin. A Greek inscription beside his halo confirms his identity as a satyr (a male follower). The weaver skillfully blended colors and fibers to produce the illusion of shadows and movement in the two bodies. Though Christianity was the official religion, many pagan motifs endured as creative references.
date
300s CE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60761607
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 139 x 86.4 cm (54 3/4 x 34 in.); Mounted: 153.6 x 100.4 x 3.9 cm (60 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 1 9/16 in.)
cul
Byzantine Empire (Egypt)
accession
1975.6
Source extras
tec
Linen: undyed; wool: dyed; plain weave ground with tapestry weave
tombstone
Fragment with Satyr and Maenad, 300s CE. Byzantine Empire (Egypt). Linen: undyed; wool: dyed; plain weave ground with tapestry weave; overall: 139 x 86.4 cm (54 3/4 x 34 in.); mounted: 153.6 x 100.4 x 3.9 cm (60 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 1 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1975.6
collection
T - Coptic
inscriptions
inscription
the satyr is identified by an inscription above his head.
citations
citation
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.
page_number
26
citation
Susan MacMillan Arensberg. "Dionysos: A Late Antique Tapestry." <em>Boston Museum Bulletin</em> 75 (1977):
page_number
p. 4-25
url
www.jstor.org/stable/4171613.
citation
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Late Classical Tapestry." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 63, no. 10 (1976):
page_number
p. 307-13, fig. 1, 3, 9, cover illus
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25152664.
citation
Weitzmann, Kurt. "The Late Roman World." <em>The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin</em> 35, no. 2 (1977): 2-96.
page_number
p. 24, no. 2, color p. 25
url
doi:10.2307/3259887.
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 36
citation
Weitzmann, Kurt. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century : Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 19, 1977, Through February 12, 1978. New York: The Metropolitan Museum, 1979.
page_number
p. 144-46, no. 124, illus p. 145
citation
Rutschowscaya, Marie-Hélène. Coptic Fabrics. Paris, France: Adam Biro, 1990.
page_number
p. 87
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 13
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein<em>. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 40-41, no. 3
citation
Thomas, Thelma K. "Material Meaning in Late Antiquity." In <em>Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. </em>Thelma K. Thomas, ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 26, fig. 1-1.5
citation
Achi, Andrea Myers, et al. Africa and Byzantium. New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 42, no. 3
citation
Hanson, Robin and Holly Witchey. "Dorothy Shepherd and the Cleveland Museum of Art's Ancient Near Eastern and Islamic Art Collection." <em>Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals</em> 20, n. 3 (September 2024): 461-473.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 462, 467; Reproduced: p. 463 (fig. 1)
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:37:32.251000
sourceId
148336
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Coptic
med
Linen: undyed; wool: dyed; plain weave ground with tapestry weave
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
8dac8f33dfc976cc