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Fragment of Round Segmentum
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Segmentum (medallions) like this decorated tunics in Coptic Egypt. Medallions were woven into a tunic’s shoulders or lower half. This medallion's design scheme displays waves encircling geometric shapes and representational images. It features a cross-legged dancer balanced on a vase with hands raised prayerfully. Other dancers clang cymbals while satyrs frolic below them. Coptic can refer to a language, an ethnic group, a religion, or an artistic style (which wasn’t always Christian). Coptic classical imagery reflects the Hellenized (Greek, 305–30 BC) and Roman cultures of Egypt (30 BC–AD 395) before the Byzantine era.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineFragment of Round Segmentum, 400s–600s CE. Africa, North Africa, Egypt, Coptic-style weaver(s). Wool: tabby ground, inwoven tapestry ornament; overall: 33 x 29.2 cm (13 x 11 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1982.271