DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0501
448
ADAPTATION OF GROWING FIGURE TO BELT
Compara-
tive pro-
portions
of girth of
adult
male
figure.
Adapta-
tion of
human
body to
early
waist
constric-
tion.
TtNON FOR A«M
A
Sections are shown in Fig. 312 of the body of the figure round the chest
(a), the waist (b), and the buttocks (c).
Taking the actual height of the image from the heels (the upper part
of the tiara being omitted) as about 13 centi-
metres, the width of the waist is 5^ of the whole.
In the case of the bronze figure of an adult man
reproduced in Fig. 320 below, the original height
of which was approximately 25 centimetres, the
width of the girdle 1 is slightly under a twelfth, a
comparison that leads to a very interesting result.
If we may imagine the boy-God represented
by the ivory statuette to have reached maturity,
the 13 centimetres of his stature as here seen,
might with sufficient accuracy be increased to 16.
If he then still wore a belt of the same size its pro-
portion to his whole height would work out at
just under a twelfth, in other words, it would show
an exact proportional correspondence with the case
illustrated by the bronze adult figure above re-
ferred to.
Is it possible then that, while children of
1 ... Fig. 312. Sections of
both sexes were still of very tender years, metal Ivory Figurine of Boy-God :
belts were riveted round them, to which their A> R0UND Chest; b, Waist;
... . . , , , , . . c, round Buttocks.
growing bodies adapted themselves and which
remained a permanency for at least the greater part of their life ?
Considering the vital ducts and vessels involved by the constriction
below the ribs, this might have been thought an impossible interference with
Nature. So far, however, as it has been possible to consult expert medical
and physiological opinion, this result could be achieved without patent injury
to the health of the subject.2
Such representations of the encircling ring that we possess leave a very
clear impression that it was of metal.3 That in individual cases it may have
1 The height of the head in this case is
30 mm., so that normally the width of the
waist should have been 45 mm.—that is, about
a fifth of the height of the figure.
2 Amongst other authorities who have
kindly given me their opinion on this question,
and who take this view, are Lord Moynihan,
President of the Royal College of Surgeons,
and Sir Humphry Rolleston, Regius Pro-
fessor of Medicine at Cambridge.
s See, too, on this, J. L. Myres, B. S. A., ix,
pp. 364, 365. The more elaborate and
apparently claspless belts of the Knossian
Cupbearer and other large representations
ADAPTATION OF GROWING FIGURE TO BELT
Compara-
tive pro-
portions
of girth of
adult
male
figure.
Adapta-
tion of
human
body to
early
waist
constric-
tion.
TtNON FOR A«M
A
Sections are shown in Fig. 312 of the body of the figure round the chest
(a), the waist (b), and the buttocks (c).
Taking the actual height of the image from the heels (the upper part
of the tiara being omitted) as about 13 centi-
metres, the width of the waist is 5^ of the whole.
In the case of the bronze figure of an adult man
reproduced in Fig. 320 below, the original height
of which was approximately 25 centimetres, the
width of the girdle 1 is slightly under a twelfth, a
comparison that leads to a very interesting result.
If we may imagine the boy-God represented
by the ivory statuette to have reached maturity,
the 13 centimetres of his stature as here seen,
might with sufficient accuracy be increased to 16.
If he then still wore a belt of the same size its pro-
portion to his whole height would work out at
just under a twelfth, in other words, it would show
an exact proportional correspondence with the case
illustrated by the bronze adult figure above re-
ferred to.
Is it possible then that, while children of
1 ... Fig. 312. Sections of
both sexes were still of very tender years, metal Ivory Figurine of Boy-God :
belts were riveted round them, to which their A> R0UND Chest; b, Waist;
... . . , , , , . . c, round Buttocks.
growing bodies adapted themselves and which
remained a permanency for at least the greater part of their life ?
Considering the vital ducts and vessels involved by the constriction
below the ribs, this might have been thought an impossible interference with
Nature. So far, however, as it has been possible to consult expert medical
and physiological opinion, this result could be achieved without patent injury
to the health of the subject.2
Such representations of the encircling ring that we possess leave a very
clear impression that it was of metal.3 That in individual cases it may have
1 The height of the head in this case is
30 mm., so that normally the width of the
waist should have been 45 mm.—that is, about
a fifth of the height of the figure.
2 Amongst other authorities who have
kindly given me their opinion on this question,
and who take this view, are Lord Moynihan,
President of the Royal College of Surgeons,
and Sir Humphry Rolleston, Regius Pro-
fessor of Medicine at Cambridge.
s See, too, on this, J. L. Myres, B. S. A., ix,
pp. 364, 365. The more elaborate and
apparently claspless belts of the Knossian
Cupbearer and other large representations