Square panel from a garment or furnishing with bust of a female figure, tapestry weave of dyed wools (and possibly undyed linen) (Egypt, 5th-6th century CE) (© Brooklyn Museum, photo by Sarah DeSantis)

Square panel from a garment or furnishing with bust of a female figure, tapestry weave of dyed wools (and possibly undyed linen) (Egypt, 5th-6th century CE) (© Brooklyn Museum, photo by Sarah DeSantis)

Grape vines and dancing warriors decorate a 6th-century CE tunic from Egypt, with two figures drinking from wine glasses hidden on the shoulder, a jovial detail you’d only see up close. Its Dionysian motifs, arranged in bands and circles, suggest it was a garment meant for reveling; yet the murky stains on the linen are evidence of its final use as a shroud. Most textiles that survive from Late Antiquity were, after use by the living, turned into clothes for the dead. The bacchanal imagery of a tunic worn for a feast transformed into symbolism of good spirits for the grieving or the god of wine’s journey to the underworld.

Tunic with Dionysian motifs, tapestry weave of dyed wool, undyed linen, plain (tabby) ground weave of undyed linen (Panopolis (Akhmim), Egypt, early 6th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, courtesy Art Resource, NY)

Tunic with Dionysian motifs, tapestry weave of dyed wool, undyed linen, plain (tabby) ground weave of undyed linen (Panopolis (Akhmim), Egypt, early 6th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, image courtesy Art Resource, NY)

Over 50 examples of textile garments and furnishings are on view in Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Curated by Thelma K. Thomas, associate professor of fine arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, it includes loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and other institutions. These are usually in storage, their fragile fibers rarely on public view, as it’s only through their use in cemeteries that the textiles resisted decay. Designing Identity looks at how their imagery reflects the lives and beliefs of Late Antique Mediterranean society.

Child’s tunic with hood, tapestry weave of dyed wools, plain (tabby) weave ground of dyed wool, fringe of dyed wools along edge of hood and lower edge of tunic (Egypt, 5th –7th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, image courtesy Art Resource, NY)

Child’s tunic with hood, tapestry weave of dyed wools, plain (tabby) weave ground of dyed wool, fringe of dyed wools along edge of hood and lower edge of tunic (Egypt, 5th –7th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, image courtesy Art Resource, NY) (click to enlarge)

Christianity was overtaking the polytheist religions of the Roman Empire, and on the textiles these devotions often mingle, such as a maenad dancing alongside a cross. Even with the rise of Christianity, there remained a strong belief in magic, with symbols and patterns of protection appearing on many textiles.

For example, the tunic of a child has two large roundels with winding lines on a hood, to pull down as protection against the evil eye and other dangers. A furnishing covered with flourishing vines might have been a totem for prosperity. Others have more direct charms, like a beautifully intricate fabric fragment decorated with overlapping patterns in a large L-shape and circle, a woven version of Solomon’s demon-repelling knot.

Designing Identity approaches each of these objects as something very personal to the owner, although they were all part of the wealthy elite, rich enough to commission a handmade garment with the fine stitching. What differentiates them is the selected imagery, and Designing Identity considers why one person wore a portrait of a woman, while another decorated their home with a tapestry of a satyr. And that imagery gives small glimpses into their lives. The blue hair on portraits in one late 6th to 7th century CE tapestry indicates it was viewed by flickering candlelight, when the vivid colors, woven with different lengths of thread for shadowy depth, would have been subdued and natural.

On entering one of the two exhibition galleries, a beautiful painted shroud greets you, the woman’s gaze as she’s paused mid-stride arresting centuries after the textile was placed in a tomb, sometime between the 2nd and 3rd century. Her garb is Roman, with a basic tunic and gold jewelry, but by her side is the Egyptian god Anubis. She belonged to both cultural worlds in life, and death. Like each of the objects in Designing Identity, the shroud offers a rare view of Late Antiquity through one of its most personal materials.

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Shroud of a woman wearing a fringed tunic, paint on plain ground weave of undyed linen (Antinoopolis, Egypt, 2nd-3rd century CE) (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Panel, possibly from a tunic, representing Dionysian figures dancing, tapestry weave of dyed wool and undyed linen, plain (tabby) ground weave (Egypt, 6th century CE) (Brooklyn Museum) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Tunic with floral motifs at neck and bottom edge, plain (tabby) ground weave, tapestry band of dyed wools of floral motifs at lower edge and forming “v” at neck (Egypt, c5th –6th century CE) (© Brooklyn Museum, photo by Sarah DeSantis)

Tunic with floral motifs at neck and bottom edge, plain (tabby) ground weave, tapestry band of dyed wools of floral motifs at lower edge and forming “v” at neck (Egypt, c5th –6th century CE) (© Brooklyn Museum, photo by Sarah DeSantis)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Fragments of a hanging representing a Satyr and Maenad, tapestry weave of dyed wools and undyed linen (Egypt, 4th century CE) (Cleveland Museum of Art) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Installation view of ‘Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity’ (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Fragment possibly of a furnishing with roundel and L-shaped band with interlace ornament, tapestry weave of dyed wool, plain (tabby) ground weave of undyed linen (Egypt, 3rd- 6th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, image courtesy Art Resource, NY)

Fragment possibly of a furnishing with roundel and L-shaped band with interlace ornament, tapestry weave of dyed wool, plain (tabby) ground weave of undyed linen (Egypt, 3rd- 6th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, image courtesy Art Resource, NY)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Installation view of ‘Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity’ (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Detail of a hanging with Dionysian figures, tapestry weave of dyed wools and undyed wool (Antinoopolis, Egypt, late 6th-early 7th century CE) (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Fragment of a garment or furnishing with vegetal motifs and geometric interlace, tapestry weave of dyed wool and undyed linen, plain (tabby) ground weave of dyed wool (Egypt, 3rd-4th century CE) (Brooklyn Museum) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Two square panels from a garment or furnishing with busts of female figures (Egypt, 5th-6th century CE) (Brooklyn Museum) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity

Installation view of ‘Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity’ (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity continues through May 22 at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (15 East 84th Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan). 

Allison C. Meier is a former staff writer for Hyperallergic. Originally from Oklahoma, she has been covering visual culture and overlooked history for print and online media since 2006. She moonlights...