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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.
Page data
- Page
- 1
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 8dac8f33dfc976cc
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 148336
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"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": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.6",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60761607"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Textile"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_web.jpg",
"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"
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "148336",
"label": "Fragment with Satyr and Maenad",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document 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": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.6",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60761607"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Textile"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_web.jpg",
"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"
}
Document 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",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n56"
},
{
"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",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n28"
},
{
"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)"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.6",
"creditline": "Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund",
"updatedAt": "2026-05-29 07:37:32.251000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 148336,
"dept": "Textiles",
"coll": "T - Coptic",
"med": "Linen: undyed; wool: dyed; plain weave ground with tapestry weave",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
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"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.6/1975.6_web.jpg",
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