Muzeul Textilelor in collaboration with the National Museum of Romanian Peasant, National Museum of Romanian History and ASTRA Muzeum organises the exhibition Roșu/Red, which, through a selection of objects from the Muzeul Textilelor and the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, dated from the 19th and the 20th centuries, illustrates the variety of colors and decorative motifs that could be reached with red dyes. The use of the natural dye sources  madder (Rubia tinctorum L.) and cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) and the early synthetic dyes fuchsin (1856), synthetic alizarin (1871), rhodamine B (1887), all evidenced by analytical investigations, supports the role of dyes as cultural connecting elements of European and worldwide textiles.

Red is the color par excellence, its symbolism being linked to protection and magic through its primary attributes, fire and blood. From ancient times, red was the predominant color, and kept its status throughout the Greek and Roman times, and in medieval Europe, until blue became its competitor, around the 13th century. The interest for the color red is also confirmed by the traces of red observed on the oldest textile fragments discovered. Mineral pigments, iron oxides and cinnabar were the first sources to colour textiles in red, before the discovery of dyes from biological sources. Plant dyes have been known since the Neolithic, being exploited by populations whose climate was favorable to their growth and development, their use for dyeing being closely related to the other two fundamental processes of textile processing: spinning and weaving. Literature indicates henna (Lawsonia inermis) as the first vegetable source of red dye, but the one whose use was first scientifically proven is madder (Rubia tinctorum L.). Dyes extracted from its roots have been identified in archaeological textiles from the European Bronze and Iron Ages preserved in the Hallstatt salt mines (Austria), bog sites in Scandinavia and in other European burial fragments.

Dyes of animal origin, from insects and molluscs, played a significant role in red dyeing, and always competed for supremacy on the European market. Literature mentions kermes (Kermes vermilio) and Polish and Armenian carmine scale insects (Porphyrophora polonica and P. hameli) as the most preferred in Europe until the 16th century, information proven by analytical investigations. In order to protect the use of the above-mentioned, the Oriental lac dye (Kerria lacca) insects, only rarely managed to reach the European market. In 1464, kermes gained the final triumph over purple (Murex brandaris), when the Pope decided that this source should be used to dye the velvet of cardinals’ robes. Almost thirty years later, with the discovery of the New World, another insect dye made its appearance in Europe: the American cochineal (Dactylopius coccus). Before the end of the 16th century, it will replace all the animal dye sources which existed in Europe.

The discovery of synthetic dyes at the end of the 19th century marks the beginning of another period in textile dyeing. The new colors, brighter and easier to apply, were received with enthusiasm all over the world, which resulted to the decline and almost totally replacement of the natural sources of color.

            The exhibition’s curators are Florica Zaharia, Muzeul Textilelor, and Irina Petroviciu, National History Museum of Romania. Also, contributors to the exhibition are Silviu Horațiu Ilea, National Museum of Romanian Peasants, Silvana Vasilca, National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, and Iulia Teodorescu, ASTRA Museum.