DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.810#0410
HAIR, ARM, AND BREAST OF 'PRIEST-KING
781
case of tresses of a lock of hair falling down in front of the left breast and
beneath the clenched hand. These locks are best traceable by the appearance
of slightly incised sinuous lines that mark their margin, and their slight
continuation below the fist can also be traced by this curious technical detail.
Falling locks in this position form another constant feature of Minoan Art-
This is already seen in the case of the terra-cotta relief from the ' House of the
Sacrificed Oxen'x belonging to the close of M. M. Ill and was also copied by
the Egyptian artists as a characteristic feature of the 'tributaries' from the
' Isles of the Middle of the Sea' and Keftiu land.2 It has been shown above3
that this method of letting the hair fall in long side-locks was shared from
a very early date by the Libyan tribes,4 and it is impossible to avoid the
conclusion that the Minoan fashion was influenced from that side. It has
Long
pendant
locks of
hair.
Minoan
and
Libyan
trait.
Fig. 509. Section of Arm and Breast of ' Priest-King ' Relief
on Fig. 508.
Waz-
lily collar.
already been suggested that the silver hair pendant worn by the ' Cup-
bearer ' in front of his ear may have been due to the same influence.*
The wrist that has been preserved bears a broad blue bracelet, and
round the neck hangs a collar of lilies with round beads between them.
These had been executed by means of some superficial layer—possibly gold
foil—laid over the ruddy wash that covered the nude parts of the body, and
the disappearance of this has left their outlines photographed, as it were, in
deeper tones of Venetian red on the otherwise much faded surface. The
loin-cloth shows a red and blue band near its border, and there are traces
above the ankle of the sinewy left leg of a broad band with a border above
and below. This undoubtedly was the upper band of leggings or puttees, Leggings
such as are worn by the Young Chieftain on the Hagia Triada cup illus-
trated below in Fig. 516 (p. 791).
1 See above, p. 753, Fig. 487. It will be
seen that this terracotta torso shows the body
more in profile, so that the right shoulder
must have stood out in considerable relief
from the flat surface to which the figure was
applied.
2 See, for instance, p. 746, Fig. 482, above.
3 See the comparative types in Fig. 16,
p. 34, above.
1 See especially the head of a pre.-dynastic
(proto-Libyan) ivory figure from Hierakonpolis
(Suppl. PL XII, d).
6 See above, p. 706, and Fig. 442 a.
781
case of tresses of a lock of hair falling down in front of the left breast and
beneath the clenched hand. These locks are best traceable by the appearance
of slightly incised sinuous lines that mark their margin, and their slight
continuation below the fist can also be traced by this curious technical detail.
Falling locks in this position form another constant feature of Minoan Art-
This is already seen in the case of the terra-cotta relief from the ' House of the
Sacrificed Oxen'x belonging to the close of M. M. Ill and was also copied by
the Egyptian artists as a characteristic feature of the 'tributaries' from the
' Isles of the Middle of the Sea' and Keftiu land.2 It has been shown above3
that this method of letting the hair fall in long side-locks was shared from
a very early date by the Libyan tribes,4 and it is impossible to avoid the
conclusion that the Minoan fashion was influenced from that side. It has
Long
pendant
locks of
hair.
Minoan
and
Libyan
trait.
Fig. 509. Section of Arm and Breast of ' Priest-King ' Relief
on Fig. 508.
Waz-
lily collar.
already been suggested that the silver hair pendant worn by the ' Cup-
bearer ' in front of his ear may have been due to the same influence.*
The wrist that has been preserved bears a broad blue bracelet, and
round the neck hangs a collar of lilies with round beads between them.
These had been executed by means of some superficial layer—possibly gold
foil—laid over the ruddy wash that covered the nude parts of the body, and
the disappearance of this has left their outlines photographed, as it were, in
deeper tones of Venetian red on the otherwise much faded surface. The
loin-cloth shows a red and blue band near its border, and there are traces
above the ankle of the sinewy left leg of a broad band with a border above
and below. This undoubtedly was the upper band of leggings or puttees, Leggings
such as are worn by the Young Chieftain on the Hagia Triada cup illus-
trated below in Fig. 516 (p. 791).
1 See above, p. 753, Fig. 487. It will be
seen that this terracotta torso shows the body
more in profile, so that the right shoulder
must have stood out in considerable relief
from the flat surface to which the figure was
applied.
2 See, for instance, p. 746, Fig. 482, above.
3 See the comparative types in Fig. 16,
p. 34, above.
1 See especially the head of a pre.-dynastic
(proto-Libyan) ivory figure from Hierakonpolis
(Suppl. PL XII, d).
6 See above, p. 706, and Fig. 442 a.