Giovanni Verri Mitchell Lecture

From marble to fiber to meaning: the role of fashion studies in the understanding of ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman sculpture

Most often, we imagine fashion in ancient Greece, Etruria and Rome through the artistic production of these civilizations. This reliance stems from the rare survival of textiles in archaeological contexts, where burial conditions are unfavorable to their preservation. In the rare instances where textiles survive, they are highly fragmentary or even entirely mineralized, making their interpretation a task fraught with difficulties.
Therefore, sculpture, paintings and other forms of art are important terms of reference to understand the way in which people dressed and the cultural significance ascribed to clothing. With the inevitable complications connected to the differences between the lived experience and its representation in art, we are often given few options when approaching the study of ancient fashion. This presentation will discuss how scientific methodologies can, alongside other disciplines-including archaeology, literature and art history-shed light on ancient fashion through the analysis of sculpture and painting. It will discuss how the study of fashion can profoundly transform our understanding of well-known works of art, such as the Parthenon sculptures at the British Museum and an Etruscan architectural group at the Art Institute of Chicago.