Rosette

Red rosette with yellow center and green details. Green lines separate the flower into four heart-shaped petals. A plain linen ground is visible around the edges. This textile has warps of undyed linen and wefts of dyed wool. The warps are doubled up in this tapestry fragment, but would likely have been regrouped in the areas of plain/tabby weave that would have undoubtedly surrounded this rosette in the complete textile. Red rosettes divided into four heart-shaped petals by a green cross, like this one, were favorite design elements in Late Antiquity around the Eastern Mediterranean, and can be found in floor mosaics as well as textiles. Such rosettes are often sprinkled throughout the plain linen ground of large decorative hangings, furnishings, and shawls.