What color is the porphyry of the monarch: an excursion into the history

Porphyry of the monarch is a mantle, which the overlord puts on the celebration. This long cloak is one of the symbols of monarchic power. The word has a Greek origin: porphyreos means "purple". Its synonyms are the "purple" and "purple" lexemes. This is the answer to the question of what color is the porphyry of the monarch. Blood red, purple, crimson, scarlet - that's what shade is traditionally possessed by royal attire.

Origin versions

Perhaps, what color of the monarch's porphyry and what its symbolic meaning is, arose from the fact that from the red rock of volcanic origin called "porphyry" in ancient times, luxury items and statues of monarchs were made. The emblem of power and privilege was the stone of porphyry in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Byzantium. The heirs of the Byzantine emperor were born in the Porphyry (crimson) hall, because our ancestors believed that porphyry brings happiness. An amazing feature of this stone is that it "knows how" to self-clean: for a couple of weeks, any pollution from it disappears without a trace.

The cloth, painted in a characteristic crimson color, was in the course of the Phoenicians, who learned to extract purple paint from rare sea snails. Need I say that such a material was very expensive, and only the highest nobility could afford it?

According to sources, in the porphyry the founder and the first king of Rome, Romulus, came out to the people. By this he wanted to emphasize the legitimacy of his power and encourage people to respect the laws given to them.

Porphyry in the Bible

The Roman emperor in times when Jesus Christ was on Earth, wore porphyry. In cloaks of red color, Roman soldiers were dressed. The Gospels tell us how these guards, mocking the captive Christ, put on him a purple cloak, a crown of thorns, and thrust a cane into his hand. So they parodied the image of the King of the Jews, not suspecting that the King of the Universe is standing before them.

Porphyry of the Emperors of Russia

It was first used at the coronation of the wife of Peter the Great - Catherine Alekseevna, held in May 1724. The coronation of the first woman in the history of Russia (except for the ritual produced in 1605 over Maria Mniszek False Dmitry) was magnificent and majestic. Porfiru put his own hand on his wife. Contemporaries said that the weight of the mantle was about 60 kg, its length reached almost 5 meters. What color was the porphyry of the monarch on Catherine? The historian writes that the royal robes of that time were made of a special brocade, embroidered with gold patterns, lined with ermine fur around the edges and around the gate that descended to the chest. Porphyry was lavishly adorned with jewels.