The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Cloth with Procession of Figures

Cloth with Procession of Figures

170 BCE–70 CE (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)
cotton and pigment (field); camelid fiber (borders and fringe)
Overall: 69.8 x 280.7 cm (27 1/2 x 110 1/2 in.); Mounted: 78.7 x 290.2 cm (31 x 114 1/4 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1940.530
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Characteristics of the pampas cat and the emperor tamarin monkey are visible in the marching figures.

Description

Experts agree that this cloth is one of the greatest paintings to survive from Andean antiquity due to the realism, complexity, large size, and refined execution of its figures. All but one of the figures wear the whiskered mouth mask of Nasca supernatural beings and several carry or wear severed human heads, which the Nasca linked to nature’s fruitfulness. Thus, the figures seem to represent supernatural forces or humans personifying such forces during a ritual devoted to agricultural fertility. Originally, the panel was attached along its upper edge to a dark blue cloth of equal size. The complete textile may have served as a mantle (a shawl-like garment), a hanging, or a funerary offering.
  • ?-1940
    Emery May Holden Norweb (1895-1984) and Raymond Henry Norweb (1894-1983), Cleveland OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1940-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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    Gallery 232- Andean Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 30, 2016-August 21, 2017).
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    Gallery 107 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 21, 2001-November 18, 2002).
    Treasures of Peruvian Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23-April 3, 1966).
    Treasures of Peruvian Gold, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, (February 23- March 3, 1966).
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    Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).
  • {{cite web|title=Cloth with Procession of Figures|url=false|author=|year=170 BCE–70 CE (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.530