Costumes of the Serbian laity in Ottoman-era portraits: Markers of social status and identity

The paper examines Ottoman-era portraits of the Serbian laityfrom the second half of the fifteenth to the seventeenth century,comparing their costumes with those of Christians representedin the same period in neighboring areas. Informativesources are books with costume illustrations and legal regulationson the clothing of non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire.The paper gives particular attention to representations of fabrics,furs, headdresses and the broad cloth belt known as thesilav in these portraits. In its concluding part, it proposes thatthe shown persons used their attire as markers of their socialstatus and identity.