Rebecca Gratz 1830

Here is an image of Rebecca Gratz made by Thomas Sully. Notice the turban, a headdress that crosses cultures and eras. Once a marker of Middle Eastern royalty and religious figures, the turban here speaks to a Western fascination with the exotic, a theatrical borrowing that’s both respectful and appropriative. Consider how Rembrandt, centuries earlier, painted similar headpieces, imbuing his figures with an air of the biblical and the wise. What's fascinating is how a piece of cloth can carry so much historical and emotional weight, shifting with each era. This echoes the “Pathosformel,” the expression of emotion passed through generations, seen in ancient tragedy. The turban, therefore, is not just fabric. It's a vessel of memory, continuously reshaped by time and culture, resurfacing with varied connotations in art across generations.