JELENA NIKOLIĆ
Academy of Technical and Art Applied Studies, Belgrade
Textile School for Design, Technology and Management
jelena2022nikolic@gmail.com

SREDNJOVEKOVNE ŽENE VLADARKE I NJIHOVA MOĆ U VIZUELNOJ KULTURI BALKANA
MEDIEVAL FEMALE RULERS AND THEIR POWER IN THE VISUAL CULTURE OF THE BALKANS

Journal 18/2022 (Museum of Applied Art), pages 9-20

Article category: original scientific paper

UDC:
316.74:[391-055.2(497)"04/14"
930.85(497)"04/14"

Abstract (original language):
Raskošna odeća, skupoceni nakit i insignije mnogo govore o tome kako su žene vladarke viđene na vizantijskom dvoru i kako se reprezentuju; obično ktitorskim kompozicijama s vladarom, ponekad i sa decom, ili pak drugim vizuelnim predstavama. NJihova moć i snaga te moći može se vizuelno iščitati iz načina raskošnog odevanja vladarki, nošenja insignija, odnosno kićenja skupocenim nakitom i uopšte njihove vizuelne reprezentacije, pri čemu pojedine ističu važan materinski aspekt. Plemenite svilene tkanine i luksuzni tekstil imali su naročito istaknutu ulogu u sekularnom i sakralnom životu u romejskom društvu, budući da su se primenjivale u ceremonijalu, diplomatiji i propagandi. Žene vladarke u Romejskom carstvu i zemljama vizantijskog kulturnog kruga često su slično obučene kao vladari. Vladari i crkveni velikodostojnici postizali su svoje planove i ciljeve na političkom, diplomatskom, vojnom i drugim poljima vizuelnim reprezenovanjem, a i davanjem luksuznog tekstila na poklon. Tokom srednjeg veka i ranog modernog doba luksuzna svilena tkanina igrala je posebno važnu ulogu u uspostavljanju veze bogatstva i autoriteta vlasti, određivanjem funkcije tela i prostora kao poprišta više vrsta izražavanja moći kao što su: društvena, verska i politička moć, pri čemu značajnu ulogu na Balkanu i Mediteranu imaju žene vladarke i žene ktitori.

Key words: (original language)
vizuelna reprezentacija, žene vladarke, luksuzni tekstil, moć, odevanje

Summary:
Luxurious clothes, valuable jewelry, and insignia says much about how female rulers were seen at the Byzantine court and how they were represented; usually by khtetors’ compositions with the ruler, sometimes with children, or through other visual representations. Their power and the intensity of that power can be visually perused from the luxurious way female rulers dressed, by wearing insignia, i.e. adorning themselves with expensive jewelry, and generally from their visual representation; whereby some also bring out the importance of their motherhood aspect. Noble silks and luxurious textiles played a very important role in the secular and sacred life of Byzantine society, as they were used in ceremonies, diplomacy and state propaganda. In fact, the female rulers in the Byzantine Empire and the countries of the Byzantine cultural circle were often dressed similarly to the male rulers. Rulers and high-ranking church officials achieved their plans and goals in the field of politics, diplomacy and military through visual representation and gifts of luxury textiles. Throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern era, luxurious silk fabrics played a particularly important role in communicating “wealth and the authority of power,” defining the function of “the body and space as an arena for displaying several types of power, such as social, religious and political, with female rulers and female khtetors playing a notable role in the Balkans and the Mediterranean area.”

Translated by the author

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