The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Fragment with eagles in roundels from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral

Fragment with eagles in roundels from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral

1100–50
Silk and gold thread: lampas weave
Overall: 36.8 x 40.6 cm (14 1/2 x 16 in.); Mount: 47 x 50.8 cm (18 1/2 x 20 in.); Framed: 49.5 x 53.3 cm (19 1/2 x 21 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1952.15
Location: not on view

Description

This fragment belongs to a group of Spanish silks characterized by their design of aligned, slightly oval roundels that frame animals or birds. A single heraldic eagle fills the center of the roundel, and under his talons are Arabic inscriptions that read Blessing. The beaded border is animated with composite beasts and harpies. It was made during a period when the Islamic cities of Spain were the leading producers of luxury silks in Europe.
  • the fragment was found c. 1948 in the Cathedral of Siguenza, Spain, in the reliquary of Saint Librada (1st c.), whose relics were restored to the Cathedral in the 12th century; it is said to have been brought there from Almeria in 1147 by Alphonse VII; (Paul O. Berliz, New York).
    ?-1952
    (Paul O. Berliz, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1952-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Spanish Medieval Art. Loan Exhibition in Honor of Dr. Walter W.S. Cook. New York: New York University. Institute of Fine Arts. Alumni Association.1954. p. 22, no. 69
    Shepherd, Dorothy G. "Two Hispano-Islamic Silks in Diasper Weave." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 1 (1955): 6-10. pp. 6-10 25142005.
    Shepherd, Dorothy G. "A Dated Hispano-Islamic Silk." Ars Orientalis 2 (1957): 373-82. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 378, pl. 10, fig. 4 4629043
    May, Florence Lewis. Silk Textiles of Spain, Eighth to Fifteenth Century. New York: Printed by order of the trustees, the Hispanic Society of America, 1957. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 39-40, fig. 25
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 120 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 218 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 218 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 275 archive.org
    Bornstein, Christine Verzár, and Priscilla Parsons Soucek. The Meeting of Two Worlds: The Crusades and the Mediterranean Context : [Exhibition], the University of Michigan Museum of Art, May 9-September 27, 1981. Ann Arbor: The Museum, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 3, pp. 24-25
    Edwards, Holly. Patterns and Precision, the Arts and Sciences of Islam. [Washington, D.C.]: National Committee to Honor the Fourteenth Centennial of Islam, 1982. p. 53, cat. no. 155
    Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Reproduced: P. 180-181, fig. 5.10; Mentioned: P. 180
    Blessing, Patricia, Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, and Eiren L. Shea. Medieval Textiles Across Eurasia, C. 300-1400. Cambridge, United Kingdom; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2023. Reproduced: p. 72; Mentioned: p. 73, fig. 63
  • Al-Andalus: Art from Islamic Spain (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 2019-October 25, 2020).
    Gallery 216. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July, 1991).
    The Heritage of Islam. Houston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C. (March 10, 1982-September 5, 1983).
    The Meeting of Two Worlds: The Crusades and the Mediterranean Context. The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (May 9-September 27, 1981).
    Spanish Medieval Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, New York, NY (December 15, 1954-January 30, 1955).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment with eagles in roundels from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral|url=false|author=|year=1100–50|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.15