Room 43

43.1
White symbolises innocence and chastity and is the colour of supreme purity. Angels wear white robes, Christening gowns are white and, since the Renaissance, brides from noble families have married in silvery white gowns. Japanese brides also where white as a symbol of purity.

It was not until the nineteenth century that white became more common for wedding dresses, and was no longer reserved for the elite. White was fashionable in the early-nineteenth-century Empire style, inspired by the sculptures of classical antiquity.

It was later discovered that ancient Greek and Roman buildings and statues were colourfully painted, but the colours had worn away over time.


43.2
Many European colonialists in the Tropics, including Dutch men in the former Dutch East Indies, wore white suits. Their wives wore white lightweight dresses, and they also dressed their children in white. 

In the twentieth century, white, often in combination with silver, became popular for futuristic fashions.

In Japan and India, white is a colour of mourning. In India, widows wear white.