The Minoan woman as the Oriental woman: Mariano Fortuny’s Knossos scarves and Ruth Saint Denis

In this paper, I discuss the reception of Minoan culture by the Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, an important representative of European fashion in the fi rst half of the 20th century. I focus on his textile creations known as ‘Knossos scarves’, created from 1906 to 1928, and decorated with Minoan motifs. These scarves represent Fortuny’s interpretation of Minoan art, and especially of the Minoan woman. He chose American pioneer dancer Ruth St. Denis to model his Knossos scarves during their offi cial 1907 presentation in Berlin. Ruth St. Denis was touring Germany at the time, performing her Oriental dances, such as Radha . Fortuny’s choice of St. Denis to introduce his Knossos scarves partly refl ects ideas of the Minoan woman that some archaeologists and art historians had created at the beginning of the early 20th century and, in turn, refl ects modern concerns about female sexuality and the ‘Woman Question’.