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Source Description
Mirrored griffins with gold heads dominate these roundels, as they turn their heads unnaturally to stare at each other across their wing tips. The pairs of dragons in the framing border, however, have lost their artistic impact since the green silk thread has disintegrated into brown specks. <br><br>Luxury silks woven in Islamic Spain were worn by Christian kings throughout Europe. Their patterns also influenced designs in Jewish synagogues and were the standard aesthetic of the elaborately decorated walls in the Muslim Alhambra palace in Granada. This silk is from the reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral, northeast of Madrid.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
129264
label
Lampas with griffins in roundels, from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
129264
contentType
object
title
Lampas with griffins in roundels, from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral
description
Mirrored griffins with gold heads dominate these roundels, as they turn their heads unnaturally to stare at each other across their wing tips. The pairs of dragons in the framing border, however, have lost their artistic impact since the green silk thread has disintegrated into brown specks. <br><br>Luxury silks woven in Islamic Spain were worn by Christian kings throughout Europe. Their patterns also influenced designs in Jewish synagogues and were the standard aesthetic of the elaborately decorated walls in the Muslim Alhambra palace in Granada. This silk is from the reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral, northeast of Madrid.
date
1100–50
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60750154
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 52.7 x 63.5 cm (20 3/4 x 25 in.); Mounted: 61 x 71.1 cm (24 x 28 in.)
cul
Spain, Almeria
accession
1952.152
Source extras
tec
Silk and gold thread: lampas and plain-weave variant
tombstone
Lampas with griffins in roundels, from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral, 1100–50. Spain, Almeria. Silk and gold thread: lampas and plain-weave variant; overall: 52.7 x 63.5 cm (20 3/4 x 25 in.); mounted: 61 x 71.1 cm (24 x 28 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1952.152
collection
T - Islamic
citations
citation
New York University. Spanish Medieval Art. Loan Exhibition in Honor of Dr. Walter W.S. Cook. 1954.
page_number
p. 22, no. 70
citation
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "Two Hispano-Islamic Silks in Diasper Weave." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 42, no. 1 (1955): 6-10.
page_number
p. 6-10
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25142005.
citation
Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Dated Hispano-Islamic Silk." <em>Ars Orientalis</em> 2 (1957): 373-82.
page_number
pl. 10, fig. B
url
www.jstor.org/stable/4629043.
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 121
citation
Shepherd, Dorothy. "Two Medieval Silks from Spain." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>45, no. 1 (January 1958): 3-7.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 4
citation
Mackie, Louise W. <em>Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century</em>. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 178-179, fig. 5.9; Mentioned: P. 180, 215
citation
Orlando, Anna, and Guido Rossi. <em>Il re denaro: le monete raccontano Genova fra arte, lusso e parsimonia.</em> Genova : Sagep editori, 2021.
page_number
Mentioned: P. 250-251; Reproduced: P. 251, fig. 4
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 and reproduced: p. 467 (fig. 5)
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:40:15.957000
sourceId
129264
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Islamic
med
Silk and gold thread: lampas and plain-weave variant
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
33af38e9a07578c3