Textile Fragment
Not on view
The blond good shepherd protectively holds a lamb while others of his flock appear to his sides together with stylized trees. Holding a staff, he wears a short yellow tunic decorated with dark clavi (bands) and red orbiculi (medallions) and a blue chlamys (mantel) draped around his shoulders. Tunics were usually worn short for working. Good shepherds represented the bucolic life or the seasons. The image would eventually become a symbol of Christ as he was described in John 10:11-18. Orbiculi like these were originally woven into the tunic or furnishing for which they were made. Over time they came to be woven separately and attached, as here.
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