Lost in Translation: Misread Arabic and other misadventures in the modern histories of medieval silk

Please join us for a presentation about medieval silk textiles and the obstacles that generations of scholars have navigated when researching them. Discussing silks found from France to Tibet, this paper investigates how textiles were attributed—and misattributed—to the Arab weavers of medieval Sicily based on their inscriptions, technical qualities, iconographies, and more.

Claire Dillon is a PhD Candidate in Islamic Art History at Columbia University and studies the intersections of visual cultures, identities, and faiths in the medieval Mediterranean. Her dissertation focuses on textile arts from Sicily and their place within the historiography of the Global Middle Ages, and her other research interests include modern appropriations and manipulations of medieval history and culture.

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This talk is made possible by the generous support of the Mary Ausplund Tooze Endowed Visiting Professor of Islamic & Ancient Art fund.

Image: Friedrich Fischbach, "Sarazenische Gewebe. 12. Jahrhundert."  
Published in Friedrich Fischbach. Die wichtigsten Webe-Ornamente bis zum 19. Jahrhundert. Volume 1. Wiesbaden: self-published, 1901. Digitized by Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg