Hestia Tapestry

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Hestia Tapestry is a wool textile from the Byzantine era, made in the Diocese of Egypt in the early 6th century. It is part of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection in Washington, DC, and is usually not on display. The tapestry shows the goddess Hestia enthroned with two attendants and six putti, and measures about 114 cm by 136.5 cm (44.9 by 53.7 inches). In Greek it is called Hestía Polýolbos, meaning “Hestia full of Blessings.” The design centers on pomegranate motifs: Hestia’s headdress and earrings are pomegranates, and the blessings she gives are represented as fruit. The symbolism and history have been discussed by Friedlander in 1945. This work shows how pagan imagery appeared in Christian Egypt, where such textiles were sometimes displayed in homes.