The Chertsey Tiles: Textile Fragment from the Reliquary of St. Librada by Cecilia Baillon '24
12023-01-17T10:03:40-08:00Brooke Hendershottb0a907cd0f989ee79e94592378a1545647719cfb394471For more information about the Chertsey tiles and associated medieval objects, visit https://chertseytiles.holycross.edu.plain2023-01-17T10:03:40-08:00YouTube2023-01-12T18:25:03ZoCydrzq8nUgThe Chertsey TilesBrooke Hendershottb0a907cd0f989ee79e94592378a1545647719cfb
This silk textile fragment features a heraldically-posed eagle in the center of a roundel as well as a myriad of secondary imagery, including two tablets clutched in the eagle’s talons which read “Baraka,” the Arabic word for blessing. Woven in Islamic Spain around the year 1100 and found in the Reliquary of St. Librada, it was likely wrapped around a fragment of St. Librada’s bone. This textile provides a vibrant example of how objects made by Muslim craftspeople were adopted and integrated into even the most sacred Christian contexts. The distinct design of medallion silks, characterized by their repeated roundels, impacted a broad range of media, including the Chertsey tiles.
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