In
the representations of the Keftiu, on the walls of Rekh-ma-ra's
tomb, the shoes are white, and have bindings of red and blue, and
in some cases are delicately embroidered. Such examples as the shoe
on an ivory figure found at Knossos, and the terra-cotta model of
a shoe found at Sitia, show the daintiness with which the Minoans
indulged themselves in the matter of footwear. In personal adornment
the men to some extent made up for their simplicity in the matter
of dress. The Cup-Bearer wears a couple of thick bracelets on his
upper arm, and another, which bears an agate signet, on his wrist;
and such decorations seem to have been in common use. The King
whose figure in low relief has been reconstructed from fragments
found at Knossos, wears peacock plumes upon his head, while round
his neck he has a collar of fleur-de-lys, wrought, no doubt, in
precious metal.
The Minoan women are depicted with a perfectly white skin, which
contrasts strongly with the bronzed hue of the men. The deep coppery
tint of the men, and the dead white skin of the women is, of course,
to be accepted only as a convention, similar to that adopted by
Egyptian artists, meant to express a difference of complexion caused
by greater or less exposure to the weather; and we need not imagine
that there was so great a contrast between the colouring of men
and women in actual life as would appear from the paintings.
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