Ornament from a Tunic: A Hunter Slaying a Lion

Small round tapestry fragment with a hunter fighting a lion. The active figures are surrounded by plant forms, suggesting that this scene is a hunt occurring in the wild rather than a battle between a venatore and a lion in an arena. This composition recalls representations of Herakles and the Nemean lion. The hunter has curled hair and wears a short tunic that itself features tapestry woven clavi (shoulder bands) and roundels. The border of the roundel is not a smooth band, but instead seems to represent the stem of a vine. The warps run perpendicular to the direction of the roundel’s design. Supplementary wefts in ‘flying shuttle’ technique create details of the lion, man, and plants.