As a supplement to the studies mentioned above and in response to the persistent desideratum of the few pictorial sources that have been analysed, this work focuses on the significance of purple fabric and purple colour in pictorial works and other art objects from Byzantium. For this purpose, evidence from the spheres of empire and church is consulted and questions are raised about their interpretation. The focus is on pictorial representations whose purple motifs can also be clearly identified in other sources, such as written sources. In addition, the project aims to draw conclusions about political-social, identity-forming and form-aesthetic structures and to trace their changes.