Tabula (Square) with Vine Scrolls Containing Aquatic Birds

Not on view

Tunics and domestic furnishings were often decorated with orbiculi and tabulae (round and square medallions), frequently arranged in pairs. Birds and vine scrolls were popular motifs of abundance, the use of which continued from the classical world into later Byzantine and Islamic art. On this tabula the vine scroll has been reduced to interconnected circular motifs filled with aquatic birds and flowers, possibly lotus blossoms, the flower of the Nile.

Tabula (Square) with Vine Scrolls Containing Aquatic Birds, Wool, linen; plain weave, tapestry weave

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