DescriptionThe unusual and striking field pattern of rows of animals within animals appears also in a rug depicted in a Sienese painting of about 1410, The Marriage of the Virgin in the National Gallery, London. The pattern of the painted version, partially obscured by standing figures, is only now, with the recent appearance of this and two similar rugs, fully comprehensible. The field design probably derives from medieval textiles patterned with single or paired animals in compartments.