His legs are covered halfway
up to the knee by a genuine pair of puttees, five turns of the
bandage being clearly marked. He appears to be giving orders to
the other figure, perhaps that of a captain or under-officer, who
stands before him in an attitude of respectful attention. The captain
is slightly lower in stature than his chief, though this may be
due to the fact that room has had to be found for the tall curving
plume of the low helmet which he wears. His neck is adorned with a
single torque, and he carries a long heavy sword sloped over his
right shoulder. Instead of wearing puttees, like his commander, he
wears half-boots, like those on the figurine discovered by Dawkins
at Petsofa. Neither the chieftain nor his officer appears to wear
any defensive armour; their only clothing is a scalloped loin-cloth,
slightly more heavily bordered in the case of the chief than in
that of the soldier; and the modelling of the bodies, with the
indications of muscular development, particularly in the legs of
the chieftain, is exceedingly fine, and of an accuracy marvellous
when the diminutive scale of the figures is considered. The little
vase is a valuable document for the appearance and equipment of
the warriors of those far-off times, but it is also a treasure
of art. 'The ideal grace and dignity of these two figures,' says
Professor Burrows, 'the pose with which they throw head and body
back, is beyond any representation of the human figure hitherto
known before the best period of Archaic Hellenic art.
Pages:
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148