2-726-769 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Curtain Fragment with Galloping Horse, 500s. This large roundel framed with hearts displays a saddled horse galloping through a landscape, indicated by the stylized tree. The secondary motif of birds, partially visible in the corners, was repeated with the large roundels to form a colourful curtain. The many shades of colour were skillfully achieved from only a few dyes, often the most expensive aspect of production: red and pink made from an insect dye, perhaps Armenian cochineal; blue from indigo; salmon (horse's nose and belly), yellow, and brown from fustic (different colours caused by the mordant, probably alum); green from fustic and indigo; and purple (horse's mane) from madder and indigo.