Lustrous silk and dark wool: materiality, colour and the refashioning of St. Augustine in the medieval imagination

Abstract

Abstract Male bodies dressed in brilliant silk clothing conveyed messages of power in late medieval Italy. Previous scholars examined how these glamorous bodies reflected contemporary ideals of gentility and whiteness in a courtly context. This article shifts the attention from secular to religious contexts through examining the fictive materiality of the attire of St. Augustine. Silk and wool were two driving forces of the pre-industrial economy. Yet they are rarely considered together, and the discussion has focussed on production. Much less thought has been put into the social implications. By pulling together the threads of silk and wool, this article illuminates how St. Augustine’s dual silk-woollen attire transformed his body in the medieval imaginary and became a powerful visual tool to communicate messages of leadership, legitimacy and kinship.