Tapestry band from the sleeve of a tunic
The central band is decorated with Nilotic motifs that were so popular in Late Antique and Early Byzantine art: stylized fish, shellfish and water. Above and below, there is a plant stem with shaded heart-shaped flowers and stylized 2-toned leaves.
The outer border has a small-scale monochrome design repeat (white on a red ground): a lozenge lattice framework of pearls, with square jewels at the points of intersection and trefoils in the interspaces. This outer border imitates early drawloom-woven silks: the earliest silks woven in the West were 2 tone, often with an undyed pattern on a red ground, and often with geometric lattice designs. Precious silk fragments of this type were often used to trim clothing.
The central medallion contains the portrait bust of a man, depicted frontally, with short dark curly hair and large square eyes. He wears a red long-sleeved garment with a purple mantle over the left shoulder. He also seems to be wearing a jewelled necklace and chest harness (shown in blue with white pearls) and is perhaps wearing a helmet or crown on his head. He holds a shield at his left shoulder (green with white bosses). The yellow background suggests either a gold ground or a halo, a mark of distinction not necessarily associated with holiness.
Portrait medallions are common in textiles of the Late Antique – Early Byzantine period. The ivory diptych of Stilicho c. 400 shows his tunic and mantle covered in portrait medallions. The Empress Ariadne c. 500 has a portrait of her son Emperor Leon II in the square tablion on the front edge of her mantle. The royal hunter motif came into fashion in the Late Antique period, and there are lots of Sasanian and Early Byzantine examples (e.g. Sasanian silver plates of the 6th-7th century and the imperial hunt on the 8th century Byzantine silk from Mozac). The central figure is perhaps wearing the jeweled necklace and chest bands seen in Sasanian imperial portraits, but the latter would feature a high and elaborate helmet/crown with floating ribbons and the face would be bearded whereas here the man has short hair and is beardless as in the Western tradition.
