Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Man's Shirt
Not on view
Three artists, two male and one female, collaborated on this shirt. The men—most likely the great warrior who subsequently wore the shirt and a comrade—each painted one side of the garment. Together they depicted thirty-five figures with elongated and highly abstracted bodies. These forms closely resemble images inscribed on rock walls during this period and earlier. Distinctive shields, sashes, hairstyles, and weapons identify many of the individuals. The female artist was someone who embodied the highest values of their culture. She was asked to create the porcupine quill embroidered strips edged in blue glass beads, and she sewed them in the classic configuration over the garment’s shoulders and down the arms.
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