Cloth, colour, symbolism and meaning in Byzantium (4th-15th centuries).

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Published: Oct 25, 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/dchae.10695
Keywords:
Byzantine silks Byzantine dyes light and colour perception symbolism metaphor and meaning.
Anna MUTHESIUS
Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Fellow Commoner of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge
Abstract
The article considers the role of coloured dyes upon Byzantine silks of the 4th-15th centuries, in the development of light and colour perception in Byzantium. It explores the creation of meaning through colour symbolism in the spheres of political ideology, religious belief and social inter-action. The article distinguishes the role of colour as the «enhancer» of form as hue, and its role as metaphor for power and authority or for Christian salvation. The paper suggests that light and colour perception in Byzantium were a powerful medium in relation to silks. In terms of what was understood at the time by Byzantine colour perception, the silks served for the visual transfer of sensual observation to the realms of the mind, where the embedded symbolic meanings could then be unravelled and appreciated.
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