Representation of the headdress of Theodore Metochites

A borrowing from the Islamic world is found on a mosaic in the Chora Church, converted into a mosque, Kariye Camii.

The appearance in the Byzantine world of elements of military dress or equipment derived from Islamic culture may be related with the predilection of the Palaeologian dynasty (1282–1453) for Turco-Mongol fashion. The Oriental vogue at court is attested in an anonymous treatise from the mid-fourteenth century, attributed to Pseudo-Kodinos, which devoted a chapter to official costume. This treatise suggests that many ceremonial garments were Oriental in origin and that they were a recent addition to the repertory of Byzantine dress. In addition to these textual sources, there are representations of Byzantine officials from this period that corroborate this hypothesis.

One of these examples is the representation of Theodore Metochites (1270–1331) as a donor to the monastery of Chora. Metochites was a fourteenth-century statesman, humanist and scholar. A favourite of Emperor Andronicus II (1282–1328), he was elevated to the rank of grand logothete – in other words, prime minister – in 1321. The mosaic is located in the lunette over the main door of the exonarthex leading to the central nave of the church. Metochites, depicted in proskynesis – kneeling – offers an enthroned Christ a model of the church: he is thus presented as the founder or, more precisely as the restorer of the church. He did in fact endow the church with mosaics and frescos during the second quarter of the fourteenth century and had a funerary chapel, while most of the building dates from the third quarter of the eleventh century. However, according to Byzantine usage, he is referred to as “the founder and logothete of the treasury [λογοθέτης τού γενικού – logothetes tou genikou], Theodore Metochites” in an inscription located in the field of the mosaic.

Metochites is depicted with a beard and wavy hair that falls over his collar. He is dressed in an official’s costume: his cloak, a sort of kaftan richly decorated with golden embroidery and red floweret motifs, is known as a kabbadion, and covers a tunic. But the most striking element of this costume in the headdress worm by Metochites. It seems to be made from a light but stiff frame covered in white silk and padded. Distinguished by its height, it is decorated with horizontal striations that seem to represent a series of pleats and with wide golden strips edged with red. This headdress is reminiscent of the high turbans worn by Mamluk officials. Pseudo-Kodinos informs us that the emperor and some of his dignitaries were in the habit of wearing a sort of turban called the phakeolis. However, the official headdress of the logothete of the treasury, a post that Metochites held when the mosaic was executed, was not one of these. It was also thought that it was a skiadion – literally “giving shade” – a hat with a pyramidal top, worn by the emperor and members of the court during the Palaeologian dynasty, but this identification is not certain. The magnificent and exotic headgear of Metochites seems in any case to have been inspired by the high dome-shaped headdresses stuffed with paper worn by members of the military aristocracy during the Mamluk sultanate.