Imagining the Empress: Theodora in Popular Culture, 1882–1922, Dumbarton Oaks, April 25–August 31, 2017

The Dumbarton Oaks Archives is excited to announce the arrival of a new exhibit Imagining the Empress: Theodora in Popular Culture, 1882–1922, curated by Lane Baker, postgraduate fellow in ephemera, in conjunction with the Dumbarton Oaks Archives’ Ephemera Collection, a new and growing assemblage of historical ephemera related to the institution’s three programs of study. The exhibit aims to expose viewers to the ways in which a single historical figure infiltrated popular culture and helped bring an awareness of Byzantium—albeit a skewed one—to the general populace.

Though Dumbarton Oaks began acquiring ephemera in 2015 and has continued at a steady pace since then, the collection’s focus on Theodora is a new phenomenon. In fact, many of the objects on display, which range from buttons to postcards to theater programs, are new acquisitions. “Part of the idea behind the exhibit was to assess the collection as a whole,” Baker explains. “We wanted to find interesting themes in what we already had, and then pursue more focused acquisitions from there.”

Also on view

Early Bliss Acquisitions: Collecting in Paris and London, 1912–1916 (through March 2018)
When the Blisses resided in Paris, they developed their collecting interests and passion and became especially intrigued by “unusual” objects that were newly available at the avant garde art dealers’ shops.

Early Bliss Acquisitions: Collecting Textiles (through March 2018)
The textile rotation features late Roman and early Byzantine hangings and curtains in tapestry weave used in private as well as religious spaces, alongside looped and woven garments from the Andes, where elite individuals displayed their wealth and status by wearing clothing in dazzling colors and patterns.