All About Purple: An Introduction

When thinking of the Imperial Roman Empire and the many Emperors that took rule through the centuries, we recall the imagery and symbolism carried with it through art. The representation of Emperors in their dress was constantly depicted in purple robes. Purple thereby became associated with Roman Imperial Emperors in art, portraiture, and architecture. The extraction process of each material, porphyry and murex dye, held great difficulty and was therefore expensive. With the large price tag of these materials use, it was then only the Emperors that could take advantage of these products. Through such restricted usage, association grew between emperor rule to porphyry and murex dye. The rarity of the colour purple and complexity of its production and extraction during the Imperial Roman Empire was the reason for its use as a status symbol and aesthetic antiquity.

About Porphyry

Sydney
Apr 16, 2018
1 min read

Porphyry stone as a finished product revels a deep purple colouring. The purple stone is indigenous to Egypt. Ancient quarries of porphyry are largely located east of the Nile. From the river, a desert has to be crossed to a mountain range where the quarries are located and the stone can be extracted. The stones relativity to the Nile is the assistant and road to obtaining the stone (Harrell 2009). These porphyry deposits are excavated into more manageable sized pieces for transport back up the Nile (Harrell 2009). Harrell and Storemyr’s article discusses the specific location largely used for porphyry extraction during the Imperial Roman Period (Harrell 2009). With this in consideration that the stone was mainly accessible in one location, this contributed to the stone’s rarity and overall exclusivity.

OWNERSHIP OF THE COLOUR PURPLE

IN THE IMPERIAL ROMAN EMPIRE

About Porphyry

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