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Classical Art and Modern Dress

• 
  Statuette of Nike (personification of victory), late 5th century b.c.; Classical
  Greek
  Terracotta

  H. 7 in. (17.8 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1907 (07.286.23)

• 
  Grave stele of a little girl, ca. 450–440 b.c.
  Greek
  Parian marble

  H. 31 1/2 in. (80 cm)
  Fletcher Fund, 1927 (27.45)

• 
  Lekythos (oil flask) depicting Poseidon pursuing Amymone, ca. 440 b.c.; Red-figure
  Attributed to the Phiale Painter
  Greek, Attic
  Terracotta

  H. 17 7/16 in. (44.30 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1917 (17.230.35)

• 
  Bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water) , ca. 440 b.c.; Red-figure
  Attributed to the Persephone Painter
  Greek, Attic
  Terracotta
  

  H. 16 1/8 in. (41 cm)
  Fletcher Fund, 1928 (28.57.23)
  
  Obverse: The return of Persephone
  Reverse: Libation scene

• 
  Statue of a woman, second half of 4th century b.c.
  Greek
  Marble

  H. 68 1/8 in. (173.02 cm)
  Gift of Mrs. Frederick F. Thompson, 1903 (03.12.17)

• 
  Statue of a young woman and a girl from a grave monument, ca. 320 b.c.
  Greek, Attic
  Marble

  H. of woman 56 7/8 in. (144.5 cm), H. of girl 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1944 (44.11.2,3)

• 
  Relief with a dancing maenad, ca. 27 b.c.–14 a.d.; Augustan
  Roman copy of a Greek relief attributed to Kallimachos, ca. 425–400 b.c.
  Pentelic marble

  H. 56 5/16 in. (143.03 cm)
  Fletcher Fund, 1935 (35.11.3)

• 
  Fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief, 27 b.c.–14 a.d.; Augustan
  Fragments of a Roman copy set in a plaster cast of the original Greek marble relief, ca. 450–425 b.c.
  Marble

  H. 89 3/8 in. (227 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.130.9)

• 
  Statue of Eirene (personification of peace), ca. 14–68 a.d.; Julio-Claudian
  Roman copy of a Greek bronze statue by Kephisodotos, ca. 375/374–360/359 b.c.
  Marble

  H. without plinth 69 3/4 in. (177.17 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1906 (06.311)

• 
  Statue of a wounded Amazon, 1st–2nd century a.d.
  Roman copy of a Greek bronze statue, ca. 450–425 b.c.
  Marble (Pentelic)

  H. 80 1/4 in. (203.84 cm)
  Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1932 (32.11.4)

• 
  Evening gown, 1880s
  Attributed to Liberty of London (British, founded 1875)
  Yellow China silk

  L. at center back 55 1/2 in. (141 cm)
  Purchase, Gifts from various donors, 1985 (1985.155)

• 
  Evening ensemble, 1934
  Mariano Fortuny (Italian, born Spain, 1871–1949)
  Pale-blue pleated silk

  L. at center back 38 in. (96.5 cm)
  Gift of Mrs. Anthony Wilson, 1979 (1979.344.11a,b)

• 
  Evening gown, 1949
  Edward Molyneux (French, born Britain, 1891–1974)
  Mauve acetate satin-backed crepe

  Waist 23 in. (58.4 cm), Skirt front 47 in. (119.4 cm)
  Gift of A. M. Tenney Associates, Inc. and Tennessee Eastman Corporation, 1949 (C.I.50.21.12)

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The Roman poet Ovid recounted an ancient myth in which Pygmalion, a sculptor disenchanted by mortal women, creates an image of feminine perfection. When he becomes enthralled with his own sculpted ideal, Venus—the Greek Aphrodite—responds to his prayers and brings the statue to life as Galatea.

Through the centuries, art and fashion have achieved their own transformations, in the process injecting new qualities not present in the original garments. Even in the most naturalistic representation of Hellenic dress, subjective and proscribed stylistic qualities are inevitably introduced. In depicting details of the distinctive modes of ancient Greek attire, subsequent artists and designers have changed, as much as preserved, the actual qualities of ancient garb. Among the stylizations that have most influenced fashion designers is wet-drapery, a term used by art historians to describe cloth that appears to cling to the body in animated folds while it reveals the contours of the form beneath (Victory of Samothrace, Musée du Louvre, Paris). This sculptural characteristic—evidenced in figures from the classical and Hellenistic periods—has emerged in fashion as a signifier of classicizing intent. From the nineteenth century to the present, designers have utilized a variety of techniques and materials to replicate its effects in cloth (C.I.50.21.12; 1985.155).

In depicting details of the distinctive modes of ancient Greek attire, subsequent artists and designers have changed, as much as preserved, the actual qualities of ancient garb.

Related

Cited Works of Art or Images (1)

• 

Timelines (4)

• Ancient Greece, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.
• Iberian Peninsula, 1–500 A.D.
• Italian Peninsula, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.
• Italian Peninsula, 1–500 A.D.

Primary Thematic Essays (4)

• Ancient Greek Dress
• The Chiton, Peplos, and Himation in Modern Dress
• Classicism in Modern Dress
• Contemporary Deconstructions of Classical Dress

Other Thematic Essays (22)

• The Art of Classical Greece (ca. 480–323 b.c.)
• Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition
• Athenian Vase Painting: Black– and Red–Figure Techniques
• Classical Antiquity in the Middle Ages
• Costume in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece
• Eighteenth–Century European Dress
• Eighteenth–Century Silhouette and Support
• Empire Style, 1800–1815
• Greek Gods and Religious Practices
• The Greek Key and Divine Attributes in Modern Dress
• List of Rulers of Europe
• Luxury Arts of Rome
• Neoclassicism
• Nineteenth–Century Silhouette and Support
• Paul Poiret (1879–1944)
• The Rediscovery of Classical Antiquity
• Roman Copies of Greek Statues
• Scenes of Everyday Life in Ancient Greece
• The Symposium in Ancient Greece
• Twentieth–Century Silhouette and Support
• Women in Classical Greece

Maps (4)

• Europe, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• Europe, 1800–1900 a.d.
• Europe, 1900 a.d.–present
• World, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.

Index Terms (16)

Art Movement/Style

• Persephone Painter

Artist

• Fortuny, Mariano (Italian, born Spain, 1871–1949)
• Halston, or Roy Halston Frowick (American, 1932–1990)
• Madame Grès (French, 1903–1993)
• Molyneux, Edward (French, born Britain, 1891–1974)
• Vionnet, Madeleine (French, 1876–1975)

Geography/Place

• Nineteenth–Century Art from the United States
• Nineteenth–Century European Art
• Twentieth–Century Art from the United States
• Twentieth–Century European Art

Material and Technique

• Plaster

Object

• Accessories for Clothing
• Children's Clothing
• Dress
• Men's Clothing

Subject Matter/Theme

• Women Artists from Europe

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In certain artistic renderings from antiquity, textiles appear fragile, even ephemeral — qualities that are substantiated in ancient literary texts. Such gossamer robes, shawls, and veilings became one of the most potent associations for fashion, as exemplified by the popular use of light mull, a sheer cotton fabric of the Empire period, and also of tulle and chiffon. The classicizing effect is further underscored if the fabric is white, since there has been a longstanding assumption that ancient Grecian styles were achromatic. This misconception, thought to derive from the faded and abraded surfaces of originally polychromed Greek statuary and architecture, continues to this day in fashion.

Drapery of the classical and Hellenistic periods of Greek art sometimes appears purely as a foil for nudity, clinging and spiraling around the body. Often, this effect occurs in response to compositional requirements rather than to any natural phenomenon or dressing practice. Such animated drapery frequently takes on a more schematic form, with fluted edges regularized into a rhythmic pattern of handkerchief-pointed "swallowtail" folds, a characteristic that has inspired fashion designers in the twentieth century (17.230.35).

In Greek art, fabrics are rendered with the texture of both regular folds and irregular pleating (14.130.9). Such differentiated representations have also found expression in fashion design. By employing a variety of techniques, designers as disparate as Mariano Fortuny (1979.344.11a,b), Madeleine Vionnet, Madame Grès, Mary McFadden, and Norma Kamali have achieved effects redolent of the stylized characteristics of cloth seen in the art of ancient Greece.

Harold Koda The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation

Koda, Harold. "Classical Art and Modern Dress". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/god2/hd_god2.htm (October 2003)

Further Reading

Koda, Harold. Goddess: The Classical Mode. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003.

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Goddess