The Dr. John and Helen Collis Lecture
Virtue and Adornment in Byzantium: Beautiful Bodies in the Christian East
Alicia Walker
Professor of History of Art and Director of the Graduate Group in Classics, Archaeology, and History of Art at Bryn Mawr College
Gartner Auditorium, Suzanne and Paul Westlake Performing Arts Center, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
Sunday, September 28, 2025, 2:00–3:00 p.m
Nereid (Sea-Nymph) from a Hanging (detail), late 300s–400s CE. Byzantine Empire (Egypt).
Free; Ticket Required - To book, click here.
Join Alicia Walker as she explores attitudes toward women and adornment in the Byzantine world. Walker discusses how jewelry and clothing decorated with Christian signs offered women ways to ornament the body while still conforming to religious values that censured personal embellishment and promoted modest piety. At the same time, Byzantine society remained connected to pre-Christian cultural traditions, allowing for Greco-Roman goddesses and other female mythological characters to persist as models for the cultivation of physical beauty and allure. Walker shows how Byzantine women navigated these diverse possibilities, displaying moral virtue and social refinement—but also captivating charm—through their dress and adornment.
For more information, visit https://www.clevelandart.org/events/virtue-and-adornment-byzantium-beautiful-bodies-christian-east