Allotting the scarlet and the purple : late antique images of the Virgin Annunciate spinning

• Main Author: Gines Taylor, Catherine
• Published: University of Manchester 2012
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.727782

There has been little attempt to scrutinize Mary's association with the spindle, the foremost attribute of femininity in the late antique world. This thesis addresses the issue by examining the iconographic origins of the Virgin Annunciate spinning in both art and text during late antiquity. From the naissance of the image in the Roman Catacombs of Priscilla, to the evidence of this iconography on Coptic textiles meant as burial clothing, the focus of this thesis is on smaller, domestic-type objects that date up to and include the fifth century. The visual implications of this image for women as viewers, object owners and patrons within both private and public settings are carefully considered here. This thesis compares and contrasts the earliest images of the Virgin Annunciate with historical, mythological, apocryphal and patristic sources to demonstrate the adaptation and popularity of this iconography amongst earliest Christianity. Additionally, this thesis promotes the original proposition that the earliest images of Mary were based on an idealized matron type as opposed to the semi-divine notion of Mary as Theotokos, a title that became central to codified Orthodoxy in the fifth century.