Resist dyed panel of linen showing The Nativity.

Resist dyed linen, with indigo, showing the Nativity scene. An angel stands to the left, facing Mary, who is reclining on a couch in the centre. Between the angel and the Virgin is the Greek cross, and to the left of the angel is the monogrammatic cross (a combination of the Greek letter P with the symbol for cross). To the right of the Virgin's head is a damaged inscription: MAPIA (Maria) and a star. The remains of the ox and ass to the far right, above the raised cribb which presumably contained the Christ Child. The left side is bounded by a spirally-fluted column and along the top is a straight band with a row circles enclosing conventional blossoms.

Given by Dudley B. Myers, esq.

This panel is one of a series of textiles, often crudely printed but with a vigorous and lively style, found in both Akhmîm and Antinoë and now scattered in many different museums.
Several substances including wax could have been used to form the resist which would have been block-printed before the textile was dipped in indigo. The choice and disposition of the subject reflect both the tradition of late Roman art and the newer innovations taking place in the Eastern Roman Empire. The couch on which the Virgin reclines and her comfortable pose are those of many a Roman matron and the rectangular form of the scene is reminiscent of the side of a sarcophagus, even to the columns at the corners. In the eastern tradition angels attended the Nativity rather than simply appearing to the shepherds in the fields, according to the second-century Protevangelium of James and the fourth-century Gospel of Nicodemus. In this tradition the Nativity takes place in a cave illuminated by a star which can just be seen before the damaged inscription.
From the Major Myers collection.

A number of these printed textiles which were found were already old when they were used to pad out mummy wrappings.

Found in Akhmîm, Upper Egypt.

This resist dyed panel is one of a group of textiles found in Akhmîm and Antinoë and now held by many different museums. A number of those which were found were already old when they were used to pad out mummy wrappings.

The choice and disposition of the subject reflect both the tradition of late Roman art and the newer innovations taking place in the Eastern Roman Empire. The couch on which the Virgin reclines and her comfortable pose are typical of a Roman matron, and the rectangular form of the scene is reminiscent of the side of a sarcophagus, even to the columns at the corners. A few lines to the far right indicate the presence of the ox and the ass above the raised crib, itself not unlike a Roman altar. This presumably contained the Christ Child.

1103-1900