Tapestry woven with the head of a woman, possibly Aphrodite (Venus); 300-400AD; Egypt, Akhmim

Square panel with portrait bust, almost certainly Aphrodite (Venus), appliqué from a tunic or more likely a furnishing textile. Wool with small quantities of linen, tapestry weave.
The woman is wearing a jewelled diadem, earrings and necklace with pendant. She wears a red garment over the left shoulder, and has a pale green halo. Plain red and yellow border.

Purchased from the Reverend Greville J. Chester.

This panel probably comes from the same source as 269-1889 (a panel of Adonis) and entered the museum at the same time [purchased from Reverend Greville J Chester].

Historical significance: The style of the panel(s) is typical of what was current throughout the Roman Empire at this time, and can be compared with the paintings from Trier.

Displayed in the exhibition <i>Constantine The Great: York's Roman Emperor</i>, 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 the subject here and on 269-1889.

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This panel was probably originally made for furnishings as the design is very bold and the use of colours quasi-abstract which suggests it was best viewed from some distance.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 would be visible as a horizontal line of patterning. Appliqués could have been unsewn whenever the cloth needed washing.

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 female figure is surely Aphrodite. Unusually, she is shown with dark rather than blond hair, but her jewellery is typical, as is her semi-nakedness. Her partner is recognisable as Adonis. These two are often found paired on textiles from Egypt. Aphrodite's principal role was as goddess of fruitfulness in general and also of human sexuality. As such, she presided over marriages and, on a large textile in Washington that appears to have been a cover for a marriage couch, the heads of Aphrodite and Adonis are found together. Aphrodite was also the deity of concord and civil harmony and because of this was associated with magistrates. In fact a court scene gives us the best idea of how these two panels might have been used. This is depicted on two folios in the Rossano Gospels, a manuscript produced in the 6th century, perhaps in Jerusalem, and where the subject is Christ before Pilate (folios 8r and 8v). Here Pilate sits behind a writing table covered with a white fringed cloth. There are two portrait busts on the front of this textile where it hangs down in front of the table and where images would have been visible to the whole assembly.

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 skilfully woven panel was originally part of a tunic, from which it was removed, probably at the time of excavation. It was among numerous textiles and items of clothing excavated from Akhmim in Upper Egypt in the 1880s, excavations which 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 of the woman on this panel is probably intended to represent the goddess Venus. Stylistically, she may be regarded as a mixture of classical (Graeco-Roman), with regard to the figure and clothing, and Christian Coptic by virtue of the large, soulful eyes which 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.

270-1889