2-733-180 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Lampas with eagles in roundels, from the Reliquary of Saint Librada in Siguenza Cathedral, 1100-1150. During the 12th century, the Islamic cities of Spain were the leading producers of luxury silks in Europe. These textiles belong to a group of Spanish silks characterized by their colours and technical peculiarities, and by their design of aligned, slightly oval roundels that frame animals or birds. Both textiles survive in pieces that have been assembled to suggest their original designs. But some parts are from different repeats and, therefore, do not exactly fit in their present locations.