Hanging with Dionysian Figures

Unknown

5th–7th century · Linen, wool; tapestry-woven · Islamic Art

Leafy tendrils frame twelve (originally fifteen) busts of satyrs, maenads, and others who attended the wine god Dionysos during his thiasoi, or revels. His tutor, Silenus is the bald man at the lower right. Herakles appears as the bearded man at upper left. The two figures with horns in the second row may be Pan and one of his sons who, according to Nonnus of Panopolis, assisted Dionysos in his conquest of India. The women are amongst the maenads who attended him. These mythological figures are typical of the continuity of interest in classical learning and culture in the Byzantine world, including Egypt.

Artist

Unknown

Date

5th–7th century

Medium

Linen, wool; tapestry-woven

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1931