Fashion Makes the (Medieval) Man or Woman

Personal style has always revealed a lot about a person, but never more than during Medieval times. A new exhibit at the Getty Center, “Fashion in the Middle Ages,” explores how medieval artists used clothing when illustrating characters in manuscripts.

“People in the Middle Ages were highly skilled at reading the meaning of clothing,” said Curator Kristin Collins. “The way figures were dressed in manuscripts provided the book’s reader with clues to their social status, profession or ethnicity.”

The manuscripts in the Getty exhibit showcase scholars dressed in red robes, as the color carried the prestige associated with the high cost of crimson dye. Meanwhile, peasants are depicted wearing cheap wool in shades of brown or gray.

“It’s hard for us to imagine, with all of the options we have today, a world where something like the color red would have had such a high price tag attached to it,” Collins said. “To have access to different patterns and colors was once a sign of great wealth.”

For the most part, Medieval illuminations acurately reflect how people dressed. However, wealthy patrons sometimes commissioned illustrations of a more glamorous, romantic version of themselves.

“Similar to fashion magazines today, manuscripts in this exhibition often present an idealized view of the individuals who are depicted,” Collins said. “Medieval illuminators used fashion to establish an ideal world that the books’ patrons might wish to inhabit.”

Since medieval manuscripts were often Biblical or historical in nature, some artists took liberties when portraying the clothing of figures from the past.

“One manuscript from an Armenian Bible shows King David, who is an Old Testament figure, dressed in robes more suited to a Byzantine emperor,” Collins said. “They drew something they thought would be evocative of the past, and not necessarily what would represent the past accurately.”

“Fashion in the Middle Ages” will be on display through Aug. 14 at the Getty Center at 1200 Getty Center Drive. For more information, call (310) 440-7300 or visit www.getty.edu.