1media/Mediterranean and US_thumb.png2021-12-13T21:38:59-08:00Christopher Smith598dd072cb4e8bd3059d173bfcefda25b5e50a98394471Map of where Man Subduing Lion has been (Not To Scale)plain2021-12-13T21:38:59-08:00Christopher Smith598dd072cb4e8bd3059d173bfcefda25b5e50a98
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12021-11-03T13:52:09-07:00Where did this go?9plain2022-09-15T07:12:10-07:00By Christopher Smith '22
This textile originated in the eastern Mediterranean region in the 7th-9th century. It is possible that the textile was transported around the Mediterranean during the time of the Crusades, from the late 11th century to the late 13th century. As the textile may have represented Samson, an Old Testament figure, it could have been kept in holy places like churches, temples, or mosques, or in the homes, castles, or palaces of the wealthy. A similar textile showing Samson was in the collection of the English king Henry III, who then donated it to St. Paul's cathedral in London.
Most recently, Holy Cross (in Worcester, Massachusetts) borrowed this silk from Dumbarton Oaks, a museum in Washington D.C. Dumbarton Oaks acquired it in 1940 as a gift from Robert Woods and Mildred Barnes Bliss, who purchased it from Giorgio Sangiorgi, an art collector from Rome, who acquired it from the Cathedral of Chur in Switzerland between 1924 and 1927.
