Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Silk with "Samson" and a Lion
Not on view
The original vibrant colors of this elegantly woven silk and the similar example from the Byzantine Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., are indicative of the taste for vivid coloring that pervaded the Byzantine and early Islamic worlds. Multiple examples of this motif of combat between a man and a lion survive and attest to the theme’s continued popularity well into the early Islamic era. The image suggests the classical theme of the battle of Herakles and the Nemean Lion. The silks may also represent the biblical battle of Samson with a lion or that of the youthful king David.
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