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Byzantine textile arts can be grouped into Late Antique/Early Byzantine, Middle Byzantine, and Late Byzantine categories, dominated respectively by tapestry-woven decoration in wool, patterned silk textiles, and gold embroideries. Accidents of preservation have played a major role in determining what survives from each period and should be kept in mind when evaluating the history of Byzantine textile production. Nonetheless, these categories seem to reflect a series of real shifts in the focus of production. The first is a pivot from domestic consumption to the international mercantile context of silk production, controlled by the Byzantine court. The second, following economic and military setbacks (twelfth-thirteenth centuries), is a new emphasis on embroidered decoration, with the Orthodox Church as the dominant patron. |
