THE UNPUBLISHED COPTIC TEXTILES OF THE MONASTERY OF ST. JOHN THE THEOLOGIAN: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF PREVIOUS ALTERATIONS AND SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

The monastery of St. John the Theologian in Patmos, which dates back to the 11th century, is today a major

spiritual and artistic entity in the Mediterranean archaeological, ecclesiastical and cultural history. Since

1999, the monastery has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, which demonstrates its histori

cal significance. The monastery preserves and holds a significant number of works of great archaeological,

ethnographical and historical value which have not been studied systematically. In particular, the archaeo

logical textiles, which were recently donated by Mr. Albert- Jean Antonelli and kept in the monastery, have

not attracted the interest and special attention of the scientific community (historians, archaeologists, con

servators) and the literature is scarce. The monastery keeps 84 Coptic textiles: (82 Coptic textile fragments,

one large tunic and one large tapestry fragment) which date between the 4th and 7 th centuries A.D. This pa

per will briefly present the unpublished Coptic textile collection focusing on the paradoxical ways of display

methods with incompatible materials and the application of scientific techniques to identify the fibre struc

ture and the dyes used, via FTIR, SEM, OM and SEM methods.