A.D. 423 - 1453
Russell, Douglas
Costume History and Style; chapter 6, pp. 88-103
Silhouette
The
garments worn by the early leaders of the Christian Church were quite
naturally based on the standard dress of the Roman lower classes of the
late Empire with ornamental borrowings from the aristocrats. These
garments were the basis for the liturgical vestments used in the Catholic
Church today. Basic tunics like the tunica talaris and the tunica
dalmatica were used with clavi bands as the basis for the under vestments,
while the paenula and casula used by the Roman lower classes for
protection against the elements were developed into the outer vestments of
cope and chasuble. Because the early Christian concept was that the body
was sinful and should not be exposed, all adaptations of Roman garments
stressed long sleeves and a full ankle length. Because draping was
believed to call attention to the graceful, physical movement of the body
under clothing, a trend developed toward semi-fitted garments, which still
recalled Roman lines, but gave a more muffled, flat figure that called
less attention to the body beneath the garments. One can readily see this
by comparing the semi-fitted effects in the famed Justinian mosaic with
the statue of Tiberius Caesar.
The shift from Roman to early Christian to Byzantine ideals in dress was a subtle process influenced first by the ideals of the new Christian faith and then by the oriental influences affecting Roman dress after the capital of the Empire was moved to Constantinople by the Emperor Constantine in 330. By the time that the famed Justinian and Theodora mosaics were created in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna about 547, the basic precepts of Byzantine dress had already been established.
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Summary
Byzantine culture and fashion is a fascinating mixture of Greek, Roman,
and Near Eastern elements-a mysterious amalgamation of abstract and
realistic decorative elements brought together to create world of motifs,
forms, and conventions that tied the world of Christian otherworldliness
to Roman imperial power. It created a distinctive kind of dress by mixing
silk fabric with metallic thread and jeweled applique; light then
reflected a rich mysterious glow of unreality from the still-clad human
form. Folds of soft, plain fabric were replaced by still garments that
made the most lavish costumes seem like wall mosaics brought to life. The
splendor of a conventional unreality took the place of plastic, moving,
and fabric effects on the natural human form. |
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