DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9804#0063
38 THE ITALIAN EXCAVATIONS
the body on the Hagia Triada gem points to it being of
stiff material, such as wickerwork.1
The smallest of the vases, unhappily not yet pub-
lished,2 is only 4 inches high. It represents a small
group of warriors, some of them in line of battle, with
only head and feet showing above and below a line of
tall, tower-like shields locked close together. The ox-tail
is still on them, which proves that, whether or no they
were strengthened with metal, their foundation was of
hide. The two principal figures stand apart, one holding
a lance or staff, the other a long sword. Both alike are
clad in the usual embroidered loin-cloth and gartered
buskins. The staff-bearer is considerably the taller and
stouter limbed, and is bareheaded ; he has long flowing
hair, and more chains on his neck and arms than the
sword-bearer, who wears his hair short or closely gathered
up under his great plumed helmet. Is the first the King 3
giving orders to his captain or his son going out to battle ?
Or is the greater dignity with which his size seems to
invest him only due to the desire of the artist to leave
no blank space above his figures ? In the case of the
sword-bearer, the question would not arise, as the extra
space was required for the plume of his helmet. The
flowing hair and uncovered head can scarcely be quoted
here as proof of rank, on the analogy of the Leader in
the Harvester vase ; for the one man of those behind the
row of shields whose head is preserved is also bareheaded
and has flowing hair, and yet is, without doubt, a soldier
in the ranks. It is conceivable that the staff-bearer is
an envoy from another city, holding parley with the
chieftain and his men.
In any case the ideal grace and dignity of these two
figures, the pose with which they throw head and body
1 The views here expressed in regard to the religious char-
acter of this garment differ from those of the Italian excavators.
2 Described by Paribcni in Rend. xii. 1903, p. 324.
3 So the Italian excavators.
the body on the Hagia Triada gem points to it being of
stiff material, such as wickerwork.1
The smallest of the vases, unhappily not yet pub-
lished,2 is only 4 inches high. It represents a small
group of warriors, some of them in line of battle, with
only head and feet showing above and below a line of
tall, tower-like shields locked close together. The ox-tail
is still on them, which proves that, whether or no they
were strengthened with metal, their foundation was of
hide. The two principal figures stand apart, one holding
a lance or staff, the other a long sword. Both alike are
clad in the usual embroidered loin-cloth and gartered
buskins. The staff-bearer is considerably the taller and
stouter limbed, and is bareheaded ; he has long flowing
hair, and more chains on his neck and arms than the
sword-bearer, who wears his hair short or closely gathered
up under his great plumed helmet. Is the first the King 3
giving orders to his captain or his son going out to battle ?
Or is the greater dignity with which his size seems to
invest him only due to the desire of the artist to leave
no blank space above his figures ? In the case of the
sword-bearer, the question would not arise, as the extra
space was required for the plume of his helmet. The
flowing hair and uncovered head can scarcely be quoted
here as proof of rank, on the analogy of the Leader in
the Harvester vase ; for the one man of those behind the
row of shields whose head is preserved is also bareheaded
and has flowing hair, and yet is, without doubt, a soldier
in the ranks. It is conceivable that the staff-bearer is
an envoy from another city, holding parley with the
chieftain and his men.
In any case the ideal grace and dignity of these two
figures, the pose with which they throw head and body
1 The views here expressed in regard to the religious char-
acter of this garment differ from those of the Italian excavators.
2 Described by Paribcni in Rend. xii. 1903, p. 324.
3 So the Italian excavators.