What does the Relief with Addorsed Ducks tell us about the crusades?
The central motifs and designs of these luxury items were frequently composed of birds, ducks, and other waterfowl in combination with other decorative elements such as floral medallions, pearl beadings, or leaves to form an organized pattern. Like all other works of Sassanian art with figured decoration, the textile patterns were also intended to bring luck and godly protection to the wearer. Here we can see the similarities between these textile fragments and the exhibition object, the Relief with Addorsed Ducks. All of these example pieces showcase a bird at the center of its design, and in all cases that bird seems to be a duck. While the two textile fragments feature the two birds sitting in the roundel facing each other, or confronted, the relief panel shows them addorsed. Despite this difference, both methods of compositional placement and organization are enframed by a medallion or circular border of pearl shapes.
The Relief with Addorsed Ducks marble panel is a testament to the cross-cultural connections that emerged as a result of the crusades. As mobility increased and production techniques were exchanged, the copy and/or recontextualization of foreign objects was a common practice among different groups. The design elements used to create the relief panel were common aesthetic trends of the luxury textiles from the East that would have been circulating in the Mediterranean at this time as a result of increased travel and trade. Showing how visual elements transferred across media, it is likely that this relief panel is a mimic of those designs commonly used for textiles. Its iconographic natural imagery is symbolic of unity, divinity, and regeneration. In the context of the violence that typically surrounds conversations about the crusades, it is important to remember the sentiments symbolized by the natural imagery of the Relief with Addorsed Ducks— unity, divinity, and regeneration.