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THE CLOTHED BODY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
17-19 January 2002Michael Duigan - London
Images of women and women as images - does the iconography of female ornaments comment on the wearers as agalmata?
This paper argues that interesting consequences follow if we accept the frequently made proposition that Greek women were seen as precious objects or 'agalmata'.
Greek artifacts characteristically had imagery applied to them and significantly women were themselves the bearers of a complex iconography placed on their bodies using textiles and jewellery. This was contextualised by the imagery on their accessories including mirrors & mirror cases, combs, cosmetic boxes, perfume containers and pottery from the women's quarters. The paper will investigate whether this imagery is paired with the adorned woman herself to comment on her nature as an agalma.
One key characteristic of agalmata is that they were seen as artifacts constructed by a craftsman. Exploring images placed on the woman I will ask what exactly this making process involved in the case of the female as artifact? Was she 'created' by a male craftsman or by the woman herself? Most importantly why was the agalma/woman 'made'? What function did women conceptualised as images serve in a society where images were seen as not merely commenting on the world but constructed for ideological purposes to shape it.
Intriguingly the imagery suggests the Greeks realised there was a contradiction in this 'art' programme - namely the construction of an artifact whose intended function required that it be simultaneously viewed and concealed.