Esztergom Lion Silk#3

The original of the piece is a mural fragment from Esztergom Castle Chapel (Hungary). The original source of inspiration for the frescoes could be a silk what was used for wall tapestry, from what the artist painted the fresco to the walls. The silk reconstruction is created by Kazar Bazar with the use of the original fresco and the parallels of the motifs, what remained to us in the form of silk fabrics.

The Esztergom Lion Silk has strong parallels with the Griffin silk of Saint Siviard (X-XIIth century, Sens, France) and the so-called "Charlemagne" Elephant Silk (X-XIth century, Aachen, Germany).

The next step of making our current reconstruction was a Byzantine iconographic source from the late 11th century. In the Homily of Johannes Chrysostomos, what was produced in Constantinople around 1078, one can see the Emperor Michael VII (1071-1078) surrounded by his courtiers. 

The second figure from the left, wearing a fascinating silk dalmatica which's pattern could serve as a parallel to the Esztergom Lion mural. 

But the iconographic source was schematized in that level, that our first graphic reconstructions of it appeared quite unrealistic and incorrect. So our next step was that we commissioned Ádám Strohmayer, who is an expert in IX-XIth century ornaments, to draw a more sophisticated ornamental design for the silk reconstruction, using the original source and other Byzantine silks from the period as inspirational sources. 

In the end, our new Esztergom Lions silk turned out a strongly hypothetical reconstruction, what's elements are all based on actual sources and historical knowledge, but the final result is also an artistic design, a new element in the Kazar Bazar's repertoire. 

Source: Anne Hedeager Krag: New light on a Viking garment from Ladby, Denmark. Acta Archaeologica Lodziensia nr 50/1, 81-86. 2004. p85.

Artwork: Balázs Szakonyi, Ádám Strohmayer