Ancient Bling: 'Pagan' and Early Christian Attitudes toward Female Adornment

Kirsti Upson-Saia - Duke University

'Pagans' in the Mediterranean had conflicting views about female adornment. Some considered adornments worn by women to be signs of their natural licentiousness and the moral decline of the Roman state. Others thought adornments were potent signals of a family's wealth, reputation, and status. Christian authors also constructed two models, somewhat derived from pagan notions. For the most part, Christian authors adopted a negative stance toward female adornments, pairing them with deviant and excessive sexuality. Consequently, they urged Christian women to restrict their use of cosmetics, jewelry, gold, and elaborate dress. Although all Christian women were advised to curb their use of adornments, ascetic women in particular gave up adornments as part of their vow to chastity. Renunciation of adornments, therefore, accorded ascetic women particular honor within their Christian communities. At the same time, Christians also stripped authoritative or powerful women of their adornments as a shaming or silencing mechanism. We see in 'pagan' literature two different functions of the adorned woman, whereas in early Christianity, there were two functions of the lack of adornments. On the one hand, when ascetic women renounced adornments, they were honored and singled out as exceptional. On the other hand, when Christian men stripped women of their adornments, they simultaneously brought shame upon them.