Tapestry woven panel with the head of a youth, possibly Adonis; 300-400AD; Egypt, Akhmim

Square panel depicting a portrait bust of a young man, almost certainly of Adonis, probably to be appliquéd to a tunic or a furnishing textile. Tapestry-woven wool with small quantities of linen. Coloured wools make up the man's head and clothing and the background: his tunic is green with purple shoulder-bands and roundels; the background is dark purple; the border is red and yellow.

Purchased from the Reverend Greville J. Chester.

This panel probably comes from the same source as 270-1889 (a panel of Aphrodite) and entered the museum at the same time [purchased from Reverend Greville J Chester]

Displayed in the exhibition Constantine The Great: York's Roman Emperor, Yorkshire Museum, 31 March - 29 October 2006

Technique
The texture is relatively coarse (only about 7 warp ends per cm) and the design bold. The aim has not been to create smooth gradations of tone, or 'shading', as would have been the case in earlier and finer tapestry weaving, but to create effects that are both contrasting and three-dimensional; the head stands out from the dark background and the large features are clearly defined within the face. Nevertheless, a large number of different colours of weft yarn have been used with great skill. Note in particular the pale turquoise used on the bridge of the nose of this subjects and 270-1889.

Purpose/use
This panel was probably originally made for furnishings as the design is very bold and the use of colours quasi-abstract which suggests it was best viewed from some distance. It would have been sewn to another cloth, almost certainly of plain linen. The construction runs counter to the most common practice, as the tapestry decoration is not woven in one with the main body of the textile. The fact that it has been woven separately on a wool warp suggests that it is the product of a specialist tapestry workshop.

The suggestion that these may be furnishings has validity because images exist of tablecloths on which the panels were sewn. The images adorned the part of the tablecloth that hung over the edge of the table and were visible as a horizontal line of patterning.

Subject and style
This and its matching panel are pagan images found in a Christian burial. The pagan subjectmatter is intriguing and the dating of the panels to the 4th century AD suggests that pagan subjects continued to be made in Egypt long after the arrival of Christianity. Sometimes, however, textiles that had been in use for a hundred years were deposited in tombs. In the case of Christian tombs, such textiles could date from a time before the local population had become Christian.

The identification of the male bust as Adonis relies on the identification of the matching female figure on 270-1889 as Aphrodite; these two gods are often found as a pair on textiles from Egypt. Aphrodite was the important figure while Adonis was included to provide symmetry. His status was lower as is shown by the fact that he has no halo, or diadem or wreath of any kind around his head. His long wavy hair at first sight seems to be an attribute of the mythical hero, but is more likely to represent a contemporary fashion. It can be compared for example with the long hair of the two sons of the owner of the baths at Piazza Armerina. In the mosaics in the vestibule of the baths, the young man on the left wears a narrow-sleeved tunic in green which corresponds closely to Adonis' green tunic with its roundels.

The style of the panel corresponds to what was current throughout the Roman Empire at this time. It can, for example, be compared with the paintings from Trier. In these Egyptian images, however, the tendency for the head to be shown as disporportionately large in relation to the shoulders is particularly marked. This 'mannerism' was to continue in Egypt as a key element in the later 'Coptic' style.

Comparable piece: 651-1886.

From a Christian burial site

This woven panel was among numerous textiles and items of clothing excavated from Akhmim in Upper Egypt in the 1880s. These excavations revealed large quantities of textiles and costumes buried with the dead. Akhmim, which occupied the site of the Greek city of Panopolis, had become an important town and major centre for linen manufacture.

The figure on this panel is probably intended to represent Adonis. Stylistically, he may be regarded as a mixture of classical (Graeco-Roman) and Christian Coptic, his figure and clothing deriving from the former. Large, soulful eyes were a particular feature of fully developed Coptic art. The term Coptic was originally the Arabic term for the native Egyptians, but came to refer to the practising Christians in Egypt.

269-1889