Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 24 July 2017
cross, triumph of the: update
Dominique Bénazeth Keywords: Textiles, Coptic Art, Louvre (Paris, France), Triumph of the Cross, Conservation, Literature In 1995, Annemarie Stauffer conserved the coptic textile kept by the louvre museum (inv. number E 26820). The fragments that did not belong to the piece were removed.
Radiocarbon dating conducted in 2002 placed it much earlier than previously thought, between 250 and 420 (kia 20490, see van Strydonck 2003: 249-250 and Rutschowscaya 1991). Similar textiles at the Abegg-Stiftung in Riggisberg, Switzerland, are now radiocarbon dated in the same date range, with the most spectacular one (inv. 2439) from the 4th to the 6th century (see the catalogue of the collection Schrenk 2004).
Two other articles in the Coptic Encyclopedia reference this tapestry: du Bourguet (1991) and Rutschowscaya (1991a). In the broader literature concerning the textile, from 1969 till 2017, the principal titles are those of Rutschowscaya (1991b) and Delassus (2015).
Bibliography
Bourguet, P. du. “Jonah” in “Biblical Subjects in Coptic Art.” Coptic Encyclopedia. Vol 2. New York: Macmillan, 1991. 386.
Chrétiens d'Orient. Deux mille ans d'histoire. Exhibition catalogue (Paris, Institut du Monde arabe, 26/09/2017 – 14/01/2018; Tourcoing, MUba Eugène Leroy, 22/02/2018 – 12/06/2018). Forthcoming 2017.
Delassus, M., in C. Fluck, G. Helmecke, E. O’Connell, E. Ehler (ed.), Ein Gott. Abrahams Erben am Nil. Juden, Christen und Muslime in Ägypten von der Antike bis zum Mittelalter, Berlin, 2015, p. 222, no. 265.
Rutschowscaya, M- H. Coptic Fabrics. Rizzolo International Publications, 1990, p.126-127. (before conservation) Rutschowscaya, M-H. “Textiles, Coptic.” Coptic Encyclopedia. Vol 7. New York: Macmillan, 1991a. 2217 (before conservation).
Rutschowscaya, M- H. “La tapisserie au Jonas du musée du Louvre,” Dielheimer Blätter zum Alten Testament und seiner Rezeption in der Alten Kirche 27, 1991b, 187-197.
© Claremont Graduate University D. Bénazeth, Cross, Triumph of the: Update Schrenk, S. Textilien des Mittelmeerraumes aus spätantiker bis frühislamischer Zeit. Riggisberg: Switzerland 2004, 52, 56, n. 161, 174.
Van Strydonck, M., et al., Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage Radiocarbon dates XIX, 2003, 249-250.
The textile after conservation. Triumphal cross is in the middle of the upper register, and Jonah is on the right side © Musée du Louvre/Christian Larrieu.
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