The illustration shows one of the six large wall paintings of the Royal Textile Museum at Crefeld. Justinian and his spouse, Theodora, on the throne. Monks pour out of their hollowed pilgrim staves the eggs of the silk moth.

These were the germs from which an industry was to be evolved, to which Europe owes a large part of its present opulence.

Justinian was able to appreciate the great importance of silk weaving and silk industry. He brought into his own manufactories silk weavers from those countries which were distinguished by their textile skill, or which were in competition with him. We know that the Persian kings of the family of the Sassanides established silk manufactories in the same manner as Justinian.

They paid great attention to the silk trade, rightly valuing their favorable geographical situation, which placed them midway between the Orient and the Occident. For this reason, Justinian engaged first-rate Persian weavers for his imperial factories.

It followed as a matter of course that these weavers did not immediately resign their own tastes, and thus we find, especially in the earlier part of this period, great similarity between the Byzantine and Persian drawings.

In the treasury of the church at Maestricht there is kept a piece of stuff which belonged to the garment of St. SERVATIUS, the patron of this church in which he was buried.

The figured part of this design is also surrounded by connected circles having a diameter of a quarter of a yard. Within the circle two brothers stand upon a doric column, perhaps Romulus and Remus, or the two Dioscurii, Castor and Pollux. On each side of the column a bull is being sacrificed. Two angels pour out the libation.

Another celebrated fabric is preserved amongst the treasures of the Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral.

FIGURE 16.

Here also we see large connected circles with diameters of over half a yard. The figured center, a team of four horses, is sure to relate to the chariot races, which were so popular at the

time of Justinian, that the two great political parties of Byzantium used to wear the colors of the charioteers. Hence the name of the parties "blue and green."

A scene very often represented in designs of the 7th and 8th centuries is that of a man fighting with a lion.

It may be the fight of Hercules with the Nemean lion, or Samson strangling the lion, or finally the struggle of Christian martyrs with wild beasts in the Roman Amphitheatre.

It is not possible here to describe all the woven pieces made under the influence of Byzantine art up to the 13th century. It

may be stated that most of the designs were composed of animals facing one another, and often surrounded by graceful All possible varieties of animals were made use of. In old inventories of churches we find mentioned the chasuble with lions, the eagle dress, the chasuble with elephants.

ornament.

An interesting brocade with lions and reptiles is preserved in the South Kensington Museum in London.

The late Dr. F. BOCK of Aix-la-Chapelle, one of the best known connoisseurs of ancient textiles, says in his book: "Die liturgischen Gewaender des Mittelalters," with reference to this