Scarab ringGlencairn Museum
Lapis lazuli
Since the Neolithic age, people around the world have prized the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli.
The bright blue rock was used to make beads and jewelry for centuries, but its use as a vibrant blue paint pigment put lapis lazuli on some of the most famous canvases of all time.
Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665 (digitized by Madpixel)) by Johannes VermeerMauritshuis
Ultramarine, a vivid blue pigment, was long one of the most expensive pigments in the world, and has appeared in cave paintings, frescoes, oil paintings, and countless other works of art. It was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder.
Painting from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE)Gianfranco Ferré Research Center, Politecnico di Milano
Han Dynasty Garments
Around 200 BCE, art in China began to gravitate toward the human figure. The shape and flow of the hanfu, the traditional garments of the Han Chinese, are integral to the composition of paintings at the time.
Hanfu would usually consist of a robe paired with a pleated skirt, and were influential in the development of many other fashions, including the Japanese kimono.
Self-portrait at the Spinet (1577) by Lavinia FontanaNational Academy of San Luca
Renaissance Fashion
The Renaissance brought about changes in both fashion and art. The ornate clothing depicted in paintings of the time would have been subject to strict sumptuary laws, or legal regulations on consumption, which were typically aimed at luxury items.
Often, these fashion mandates were based on social class, like laws prohibiting low necklines in Milan and Rome.
The birth of Venus (1483 - 1485) by Sandro BotticelliUffizi Gallery
Sometimes, however, it’s all about what you’re not wearing. The Renaissance also heralded the return of the artistic nude, a subject which had been taboo in the Middle Ages.
Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ was painted in Florence around 1485 CE. Can you imagine the famous work if the goddess' attendant had finished dressing her?
Cotton huipil with machine-embroidered chain stitch printed cotton skirt with embroidery and holán (ruffle) Courtesy of Museo Frida Kahlo by Courtesy of Museo Frida Kahlo
Twentieth Century Fashion
The freedom of women to express themselves through the way they dress is an important catalyst in contemporary art.
Frida Kahlo’s iconic work, for instance, would not be the same without her huipil blouses and billowing skirts.
Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (1937) by Frida KahloNational Museum of Women in the Arts
Kahlo painted this self-portrait dedicated to Leon Trotsky after their affair in the 1930s. Her recognizable ensemble is accented by jewelry and flowers, conveying both style and symbolism in the same space.
Domestic Sewing Machine / Library of Congress (1882) by W.J. Morgan & Co. Lith. Cleveland, O.National Women’s History Museum
Industrial Revolution
With the advent of the sewing machine came the advent of fast fashion. This, in turn, meant the ever-changing catalogue of looks from which artists could pull.
First Lady Michelle Obama (2018) by Amy SheraldSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
The influence of fashion itself continues to pervade the world of painting, with the relationship between art and clothing growing more symbiotic all the time. Pictured here is 'First Lady Michelle Obama' by Amy Sherald, 2018.
For more art and apparel, check out 5 Fashion Museums Around the World.
