Band with Parade of Human Figures, Stags, and Other Fantastic Animals

16th-17th century

Band with Parade of Human Figures, Stags, and Other Fantastic Animals, 16th-17th century. Italy, Sicily ?, 16th-17th century. Needle lace, burato (twined ground and darned in one direction); bleached linen (est.); overall: 16.2 x 210.1 cm (6 3/8 x 82 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Myrta Leonora Jones 1920.1271 Animals viewed in profile, some with their legs raised, indicate movement, such as a parade or procession. However, the human figures are shown frontally. Linear elements protruding from their backs and hands held out and open suggest the figures may be angels modeling a gesture of prayer. Myrta Leonora Jones, the donor of this lace, was a women’s rights activist in Cleveland in the early 1900s.