Greek dress : $b a study of the costumes worn in ancient Greece, from pre-Hellenic times to the Hellenistic ageAbrahams, Ethel Beatrice
History
Greek dress : $b a study of the costumes worn in ancient Greece, from pre-Hellenic times to the Hellenistic age
Abrahams, Ethel Beatrice
Clothing and dress -- Greece
The variations in detail which appear in the different statues can
easily be produced by arranging the folds in a slightly different
fashion. In some cases, as for example in No. 674 (Lechat, pl. 1),
the folds hang quite upright instead of obliquely, and the box-pleat
appears in the middle instead of hanging from the shoulder; this can
easily be produced by turning the folds first in one direction and
then in the opposite. The folds of the frill sometimes hang in the
opposite direction to those of the main part of the mantle; this is
simply a mistake on the part of the artist. Occasionally the frill
does not appear at all, for example in No. 686 (Lechat, fig. 37), but
the cloak hangs straight down from the broad band. In this instance
we must suppose that the overhanging mass of material has been cut
away entirely before the folds were attached to the band.
Sometimes the two ends were sewn together along the lines _be_ and
_b′e′_, and in this case the last fastening, indicated by the letters
_d_ and _d′_, approached nearer to the points _b_ and _b′_, so as to
leave an opening only sufficient for the arm to pass through.
The detail of the cloak which presents most variety is the little
frill-like edge which falls over the band. Sometimes it appears to be
a natural continuation of the vertical folds which hang down below
it, and it falls over the band so as almost to hide it; sometimes
it is shorter, and reveals the band and forms a sort of leaf-like
pattern above it; in other cases it disappears entirely. Its most
realistic representation is in one of the Victories in the Acropolis
Museum, where the corners _c_ and _c′_, formed by cutting the curves,
are actually indicated on the shoulder, and the frill lies in an
irregular zigzag, almost exactly as it was found to fall in practice.
In two cases in the Acropolis Museum at Athens, and in a statue at
Delphi, the band does not pass under the arm, but from shoulder
to shoulder, and the cloak covers both arms symmetrically, being
fastened down both alike with a series of brooches. In these cases
the box-pleat falls in the middle, and the curve must necessarily
have been considerably smaller, since the upper edge lies much higher
up towards the neck. When the cloak was worn in this way, it was
probably sewn up down both sides, and the curves for the neck,
back and front, were naturally equidistant from the two side-seams.
The openings for the arms would come at the ends of the top edge, as
in the case of the Ionic chiton.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.—Vase-painting—British Museum.
_Face page_ 93.]
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