Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

This textile fragment is a fine example of a technique called resist printing. The design was sketched on the linen cloth, a section of it was covered with wax or clay and left to dry, and then the cloth was plunged into a vat of indigo dye. The reserved sections resisted the dye and remained the color of the cloth, creating a stark contrast to the dark blue of the rest of the fabric. The contrast is still clear, although the rich color has faded. The subject matter focuses on a youthful Christ, who is seated in an architectural niche with another partially visible seated figure. From the arrangement of this fragment, one can discern that this cloth was part of a much larger panel. The enthroned Christ would have been centrally placed and flanked by his apostles in a colonnaded setting. This composition was very popular in the late antique period and, given its liturgical nature, it might have been used as a wall hanging in a church. Christ raises his hand in a blessing and looks to the figure on his right, who is identified as "Cimon"—the apostle Simon Peter.