NEW YORK, NY.- Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity, on view at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU from February 25 through May 22, 2016, opens a window onto Late Antique (ca. 3rd – 7th centuries CE) Roman society as viewed through the designs, images, and materials of textiles. The exhibition brings together more than 50 examples—many of extraordinarily fine workmanship—to show how garments and household furnishings were used to define the personal and social spaces of the Mediterranean world, serving as indicators of societal and cultural identity. All of the textiles in the exhibition are from significant American collections.

Organized by ISAW, the exhibition is curated by Thelma K. Thomas, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts/NYU, and editor of the catalogue that accompanies the exhibition.

ISAW Exhibitions Director Jennifer Y. Chi notes, “Designing Identity is the first exhibition to illustrate the widespread and deep-reaching iconographic power of Late Antique costume. With examples of the most popular motifs—from those that signaled prosperity and well-being, to images that expressed ideal female and male virtues, to the iconography of the auspicious and protective, and more—the exhibition shows us how textiles were carefully created to convey specific images of self, society, and culture, and offers glimpses of both the activities of daily life and the practice of religious rituals.”

Background and Exhibition
Roman society of Late Antiquity experienced major political and religious shifts and upheavals, most famously the establishment and growth of Christianity, the “barbarian” invasions, and the geographic expansion of Arab culture and Islamic monotheism. Yet many artistic traditions endured, albeit in adaptations that accommodated political, cultural, and religious change. This is especially visible in the design and production of textiles for clothing and home furnishings, both of which provided effective means of conveying the (sometimes aspirational) character and standing of their elite owners. As Dr. Thomas notes in the exhibition catalogue, clothing and cloth furnishings “put hopes and desires on display in their motifs, designs, and materials, rendering visible both social identity and the inner imagined self.”

Designing Identity opens with a selection of textiles with mythological motifs, focusing on Dionysus, who was not only a god in a pagan cult, but also an emblem of wine, salvation, generation, and regeneration outside the realm of religious practice. Imagery of and related to the god is prominent among extant textiles throughout the era. Examples here include a man’s tunic that demonstrates the flexible nature and diverse expressions of mythological imagery in Late Antiquity. Created with exceptional artistry, the tunic clearly evokes Dionysus, with images of warriors dancing exultantly—which in the Late Antique era were associated with the god—and beasts and their prey, all surrounded by vines. Given Dionysius’ association with dining and drinking, the imagery of this tunic would have been appropriate for something to be worn at a banquet. Yet it also bears stains that are consistent with those on garments used to wrap the deceased for burial. Indeed, Dionysian motifs are common among the textiles found in Egyptian cemeteries—the main source of Late Antique textiles, thanks to the arid climate—and this tunic could have been part of either a dining ensemble or a burial shroud. Indeed, Dionysus’ gift of both wine, which brought good cheer to the grieving, and the spontaneous growth of vines, evoked associations of life renewed, making the motifs on the tunic appropriate for either use.

Following the display on mythological imagery, the exhibition moves on to show a series of tunics and mantles, the predominant garments of Late Antiquity. The display here examines changes and increasing options in decoration, construction, and fashion for men, women, and children, while exploring the cultural values conveyed by these features. Illuminating the ubiquity of certain iconographic motifs, a number of the textiles on view here contain images that express gendered ideals for men and women. These include, for example, the frontally rendered, full-scale portrait of a woman depicted on a burial shroud from Egypt, a transitional piece dated to the very beginning of the period. The portrait emphasizes cultivated beauty through the woman’s gold jewelry and meticulous coiffure, as well as the modest draping of her mantle. Ideals of masculinity are expressed by imagery such as that on a panel here (likely from a garment) showing a hunter spearing a panther, representing the male virtue of courage.

In addition to imagery expressive of social status or cultural ideals, clothing and furniture could also carry charms intended to work magic on the body or in the home. These could be auspicious, invoking good fortune, or apotropaic, warding off evil. Stripes, roundels, and ornamented squares, believed to be protective charms, might be placed on the perimeter of a garment, at the shoulders, hem, cuffs, and collar—the most vulnerable parts of the body—in order to protect the wearer. A child’s tunic on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, contains stripes round the sleeves and down the front and back of the garment, while the hood is ornamented with two roundels, each of which contains a vine winding in a concentric circle, an apotropaic motif that, when pulled up over the child’s head, would protect impressionable eyes. An image of a vine growing in a chalice, seen in a fragment of furniture on loan from the Brooklyn Museum, evokes a plentiful garden, and may have been selected to ensure bounty and good fortune for the homeowners. The motif of the cross, seen here on examples of clothing, jewelry, and furnishings, also became a powerful protective device with the rise of Christianity.

Carefully placed within the household, wall-hangings and other domestic textiles contributed to the overall aesthetic environment of the home with their motifs, colors, textures, and design, all of which might speak not only to the specific spaces in which they were located, but also to the identity of the household. One wall hanging, for example, represents a servant waiting for a command, reflecting the ideal (if not the actual) attentiveness of the household’s servants. Another textile here includes personifications of the months presenting seasonal bounty to the household, placing the household in the lap of abundance.