DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0044
8
INTR OD UCTION.
But though the nude form of man is the proper subject of plastic
representation, it is evident that the artist cannot on all occasions
conn ne himself to it. Fortunately for art, the plastic instinct and the
supreme good taste of the Greeks, founded on an innate sense of
natural beauty, preserved them from the hideous absurdities of cos-
tume into which the whole modern world has fallen, and which are
alone sufficient to check the progress of the sculptor's art. The Greek
dress in the age of Pericles, while it perfectly answered the primary
purpose of protection, and satisfied the conventional ideas of decency
and propriety, was of the simplest kind, and derived its character, its
peculiar shape and fold, from the person which it enveloped. There
was then no dressmaking or tailoring, in our sense of the words, and
noble men and women did not buy from their inferiors their notions
of what was graceful or becoming. The two principal garments,
in their different modifications, were the yirwv (tunic) and the
IfjuaTLOv (mantle). The former was a kind of shirt, with or without
sleeves, and either of woollen stuff and short, as among the Dorians,
or long and of linen, as among the Ionian Greeks. A change, however,
appears to have taken place in Athens in the time of Pericles, when
the long Ionian chiton was superseded by the Dorian, as better suited
for active life. The himation was a large square or oblong cloth, in
form like a Scotch plaid, which was worn in different ways according
to the fancy or the momentary needs of the wearer. In general it
was thrown over the left shoulder and brought round the back, and
under the right arm back to the left shoulder again, where it was some-
times fastened. According to the old Greek custom, men of strong
and healthy constitutions wore the himation alone without the chiton,
and it is therefore rare in fully developed Greek art to find gods
or heroes wearing the under garment. They Wrapped themselves
in the himation, and even this was laid aside in preparation for
any active exertion ; and therefore it is that deities, whether stand-
ing or moving, are so often represented nude, while in seated statues
the himation is generally wrapped round the lower limbs, leaving the
upper part of the body bare.
The dress of the women differed but little from that of the men.
The Doric chiton, which was woollen, was short and without sleeves,
INTR OD UCTION.
But though the nude form of man is the proper subject of plastic
representation, it is evident that the artist cannot on all occasions
conn ne himself to it. Fortunately for art, the plastic instinct and the
supreme good taste of the Greeks, founded on an innate sense of
natural beauty, preserved them from the hideous absurdities of cos-
tume into which the whole modern world has fallen, and which are
alone sufficient to check the progress of the sculptor's art. The Greek
dress in the age of Pericles, while it perfectly answered the primary
purpose of protection, and satisfied the conventional ideas of decency
and propriety, was of the simplest kind, and derived its character, its
peculiar shape and fold, from the person which it enveloped. There
was then no dressmaking or tailoring, in our sense of the words, and
noble men and women did not buy from their inferiors their notions
of what was graceful or becoming. The two principal garments,
in their different modifications, were the yirwv (tunic) and the
IfjuaTLOv (mantle). The former was a kind of shirt, with or without
sleeves, and either of woollen stuff and short, as among the Dorians,
or long and of linen, as among the Ionian Greeks. A change, however,
appears to have taken place in Athens in the time of Pericles, when
the long Ionian chiton was superseded by the Dorian, as better suited
for active life. The himation was a large square or oblong cloth, in
form like a Scotch plaid, which was worn in different ways according
to the fancy or the momentary needs of the wearer. In general it
was thrown over the left shoulder and brought round the back, and
under the right arm back to the left shoulder again, where it was some-
times fastened. According to the old Greek custom, men of strong
and healthy constitutions wore the himation alone without the chiton,
and it is therefore rare in fully developed Greek art to find gods
or heroes wearing the under garment. They Wrapped themselves
in the himation, and even this was laid aside in preparation for
any active exertion ; and therefore it is that deities, whether stand-
ing or moving, are so often represented nude, while in seated statues
the himation is generally wrapped round the lower limbs, leaving the
upper part of the body bare.
The dress of the women differed but little from that of the men.
The Doric chiton, which was woollen, was short and without sleeves,