Guilloche band, from a dalmatic of San Valero
Unknown Artist
1200s
Medium
tapestry weave: silk and gold thread
Dimensions
6.1 × 26.1 cm
Classification
Textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1928.650
About this artwork
Rarely do medieval silks convey their original luxurious quality with such brilliant gold thread. This fragment is said to have been among relics of Saint Valerio from Lérida Cathedral (in northeast Spain, near Barcelona). An elegant geometric tracery in crimson silk decorates the gold-thread ground, bordered above by four interlacing strands in ivory silk and below by two rows of "figure 8s" woven with gold thread and black silk outlines.