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THE CLOTHED BODY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
17-19 January 2002

Ms. A. Bowie Snodgrass
Union Theological Seminary New York.

Becoming Fire: Fashion, Christianity and the Unclothed Body in Byzantium

The Byzantine court was at height of Western fashion from the fifth to twelfth centuries, influencing all of medieval Europe. The Byzantine styles of dress combined Classical, Eastern and Christian influences. This paper will first examine the Christian aspects of Byzantine fashion and then the reactions of the Patristic Fathers to physical adornment. Christian influences on the fashion of Byzantium include the modest covering of the entire body, the employment of gold in fabrics and jewels upon it and the appearance of sacred images in and on cloth. Patristic Fathers, such as Gregory Nazianzen, condemned the extravagant adornment of Byzantine high society. Another disconnect between Byzantine fashion and Christianity can be seen in icons which portray Christ, the Holy Fools and even women, such as Mary of the Desert, without clothing or in simple loincloths I propose to develop a theory relating fashion, Christianity and the unclothed Holy body in Byzantium by looking at Florensky's aesthetic theories. Pavel Florensky, a twentieth century Russian Orthodox theologian, believed that through deification, the human body is transfigured by light and becomes fully beautiful. The transfigured body loses its mortal taint and thus dismisses the necessity for glimmering gold, jewels and rich silks, which were the staples of Byzantine court dress. Light is central in Byzantine art (such as mosaics and icons), as it was in fashion. This light, however, refers to the holy light of transfiguration. Deification and transfiguration reverse the curse of "the garment of skin of mortality in which Adam and Eve were clothed because of their sin" (Origen).