8616.
Portions of Crimson Silk, brocaded in gold; the pattern, angels holding crescents beneath crowns, from which come rays of glory, and hunting leopards seizing on gazelles. Italian, end of 14th century. 2 feet 8¾ inches by 2 feet.
This rich stuff betrays in its design an odd mixture of Asiatic and European feeling; we have the eastern hunting lion spotted and collared blue, pouncing on the gazelle or antelope, which is collared too; so far we have the imitation, but without lettering, of a Persian or Asiatic pattern. With this we find European, or at least Christian, angels, clothed in white, but with such curious nebule-nimbs about their heads as to make their brows look horned, more like spirits of evil than of good. The open crowns are thoroughly after a western design; and the head and shoulders of a winged figure, to the left, show that we have not the entire design before us. From the graceful way in which the figures are made to float, as well as from several little things about the scrolls, we may safely conclude that the designer of the pattern lived in upper Italy, and that this costly and elegant brocade was wrought at Lucca. Of the Oriental elements of this pattern we have said a few words at No. 8288.