Привет! Sullivan. 31. Mom. Wife. Devotee of The Winchester Brothers. Mostly SPN. With a handful of other interests. Proship. My Patron Saint is Post Malone. Russophile. Romanov Enthusiast. Monarchist Sympathizer. God Save The Tsar.
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^^This is NOT Irene of Athens. This mosaic depicts Irene of Hungary (1088–1134; born Piroska) alongside her husband John II Komnenos. They ruled in the 12th century, and this ensemble would not have been worn by Irene of Athens in the late 8th century.
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^^While this may be a depiction of Irene of Athens, the greater piece was commissioned in the late 10th century and continued to be worked on throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, therefore this image would be contemporary to any empresses living during that time. It is usually associated with Irene Doukaina (1066–1138) wife of Alexios I Komnenos.
^^The only contemporary images we have of Irene of Athens (750s–803) are from coins like this, which depict her wearing the style of loros (gold gem-studded piece of the imperial costume) that had been worn since the 5th century (medieval clothing generally did not change much until the 10th and 11th centuries).
For examples of what the loros she wore may have looked like, I usually turn to the Paris Gregory manuscript, which was commissioned in the late 9th century, only one century removed from Irene rather than three or more.
^^The women depicted in images 1 and 2 wear the loros, while the woman in image 3 wears the chlamys much like the iconic Empress Theodora in her mosaic at Ravenna from three centuries earlier.
Going backwards in time, the next nearest images of an empress that I’m aware of would be the potential depiction of Heraclius and the imperial family as the Biblical Job (7th century).
The illustrations are not super clear, but the women appear to still be dressed like those in the Empress Theodora mosaic and other 5th and 6th century depictions of Roman/Byzantine women. These women (middle two figures) wear neither chlamys nor a mantle, but have ornamented collars, belts, the typical late Roman/Byzantine head covering, and possibly veils.
Here are some 5th century ladies from a mosaic in Rome to compare:
To conclude, please stop conflating the other 11th and 12th century Irenes with Irene of Athens! They deserve their own attention and Irene deserves to be styled in her contemporary getup! The Paris Gregory manuscript has some great depictions of 9th century empresses, which would have dressed fairly close to Irene. And since medieval clothing did not change much until the 10th and 11th centuries, it is fairly reasonable to look as far back as 5th and 6th century women for inspiration as well!
Thanks for reading, here are my own Irene doodles (ft. Charlemagne) :)
gracieabrams
gummygunk
vaporwave
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
prguitarman
stormborns
origamiaround
theartofmadeline
