"Seeing Silk in Sens in the Ninth Century" Valerie L. Garver

An extraordinary collection of eighth- and ninth-century silks survives in the collection of the Episcopal Museum in Sens. Not merely numerous, the silks have varied origins and provide a sense of the wide range of foreign cloth available to those living in the Carolingian Empire. Most survived because of their association with saints' relics which had long been hidden within reliquaries. These extant cloths therefore raise crucial questions about the visual and material experience of textiles in the Carolingian world. How did they affect worshippers if they were rarely or never visible? Why would Christians use silks with non-Christian patterns such as depictions of Gilgamesh or fantastical animals as well as those with vegetal and animal motifs? How did these silks come into churches such as the cathedral of Sens, and who fashioned them into new forms? The answers provide a fresh appraisal of the Franks, demonstrating their real and imagined connections to those living beyond the borders of the Carolingian Empire and highlighting the critical roles that women played in the provision and manufacture of textiles.
Sponsored by the Material + Visual Worlds TAE

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