The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Fibula with Solar Design

Fibula with Solar Design

c. 700–675 BCE
Overall: 15.4 x 11.2 cm (6 1/16 x 4 7/16 in.)
Location: 102B Greek

Did You Know?

A fibula is an ancient safety pin that held garments in place.

Description

The crescent body of this bronze fibula (brooch) features both incised and punched decoration. Three sets of three arrows have been interpreted as indicating the daily route of the sun, shown at the arc’s center as a series of radiating punch marks within a shallowly incised circle. When worn, the arc may have hung downward, a large ornamental addition to the functional pin used to secure its wearer’s clothing.
  • -1999
    (Kunst der Antike, Basel, Switzerland, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1999-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Frederick E. Bidwell, and Leslie Cade. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. 2014. Mentioned and illustrated, pp. 88-89.
    Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Reproduced: p. 28 no. 8; Mentioned: p. 115, no. 8
  • The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
  • {{cite web|title=Fibula with Solar Design|url=false|author=|year=c. 700–675 BCE|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.9