top of page

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.

Search

References

  • Writer: Sydney
    Sydney
  • Apr 16, 2018
  • 1 min read

Avery, W. T. (1940). The "Adoratio Purpurae" and the Importance of the Imperial Purple in the Fourth Century. Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, Vol. 17, 66-80.

Bruin, F. (1966). Royal Purple and the Dye Industries of the Mycenaeans and Phoenicians. American University of Beirut Festival Book, 295-324.

Devièse, T., Ribechini, E., Baraldi, P., Farago-Szekeres, B., Duday, H., Regert, M., & Colombini, M. P. (2011). First chemical evidence of royal purple as a material used for funeral treatment discovered in a Gallo–Roman burial. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 1739-1748.

Elliott, C. (2008). Purple Pasts: Color Codification in the Ancient World. Source: Law & Social Inquiry, Vol. 33, No. 1, 173-194.

Harrell, J. A., & Storemyr, P. (2009). Ancient Egyptian quarries – an illustrated overview. Geological Survey of Norway Special Publication, 7-50.

Jensen, L. B. (1963). Royal Purple of Tyre. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2 , 104-118.

Reinhold, M. (1970). History of Purple as a Status Symbol. Collection Latomus, Vol. 116, 5-73.

Stieglitz, R. R. (1994). The Minoan Origin of Tyrian Purple. The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 57, No. 1, 46-54.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2018). Porphyry support for a water basin - Roman - Mid-Imperial - The Met. Retrieved from THE MET: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256126

Vasiliev, A. A. (1948). Imperial Porphyry Sarcophagi in Constantinople. Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 4, 3-26.

 
 
 

Comments

Couldn’t Load Comments
It looks like there was a technical problem. Try reconnecting or refreshing the page.

© 2018 by The Classics Lover. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page