The Garments of Salvation

by Krista West

  20 Cavarnos, Byzantine Sacred Art, 81.

  21 Personal letter to the author, 2008.

  22 Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot, Richard Pevear, trans. (New York: Vintage, 2003).

  23 Cavarnos, Byzantine Sacred Art, 157.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Of Tunics, Togas, and Tradition

  At the present time it is man’s fancy to dress hideously: he encases himself in five tubes, two for the arms, two for the legs, and one for the trunk (with a smaller connecting tube round the neck); and when he goes out, he puts on the top of his head a sixth tube which is so useless that it has to be protected by an umbrella. If we were not so accustomed to this absurd fashion of the past hundred years, we should see how ridiculous and undignified it is. We have only to imagine one of the Apostles thus bedizened in a frock-coat and a top hat, to see that in our hearts we do know that men look absurd when encased in dingy cylinders. It is clearly wrong for men to look like this, because they become ugly blots on the world which God makes with such infinite loveliness; so that earth and sky, trees and flowers, beasts, birds and insects are of ever varying beauty, and only man looks vile—man who should be the crown and glory of that visible loveliness which God provides with such care for the comfort, refreshment, and inspiration of our hearts.

  The Rev. Percy Dearmer, The Ornaments of the Ministers (1908)

  Prototypical Garments of Antiquity

  The liturgical vestments employed by the Orthodox Christian Church in its divine services and rites are drawn from a tradition of immense beauty, rich theological significance, and profound historical continuity. The Church’s ongoing usage perpetuates a garment tradition that originates at the very dawn of humanity with the postlapsarian clothing of Adam and Eve, continues with the prototypical garments of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Palestine, proceeds through classical Greek and Roman attire, and finally culminates and finds a standardized expression in the comprehensive Christian vision of the Byzantine Roman Empire. This is a tradition that has outlasted nations, empires and cultures—a truly remarkable pedigree when one considers that an Orthodox Christian priest today wears garments that have, in their essential type, been in use by mankind in one form or another for over 6000 years. Perhaps even more astonishing is the fact that many of the specific garments of Orthodox liturgical dress have enjoyed an unbroken chain of essentially unaltered design for the past 1500 years, making the prototypes of vestments worn by deacons, presbyters, and bishops today easily recognized in icons dating as far back as the sixth century in such historically significant churches as San Vitale in Ravenna and Sant’Apollinare in Classe.

  Because the origins of Orthodox Christian liturgical vestments are found in some of the earliest garments of mankind, it is helpful to begin a study of Orthodox ecclesiastical vesture with an overview of the garments of the ancient world. To begin we will focus primarily on the clothing of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, since in these regions we have the greatest amount of information pertaining to early garment history. This is a radical departure from the time period considered by most writers on Church vestments, most of whom have contented themselves with observations on the historical antecedents of liturgical vesture beginning with the garments of ancient Greece and Rome. While the immediate precursors of Orthodox Christian vestments are to be found in the garments of these two classical civilizations, a study of the garments that in their turn influenced those of the classical age leads us to a greater and spiritually significant story that must be told. When one examines the earliest garments of civilized man—the archetypal garments that would develop into the daily dress of ancient Greece and Rome and, in turn, our Orthodox Christian liturgical vestments—one observes with startling clarity the common origins of this entire historical trajectory of clothing. The very garments that Adam and Eve used in the beginning to cover their nakedness are seen to be transfigured by time and through God’s merciful economy into Orthodox Christian liturgical vesture: the garments of salvation.

  In addition to the spiritual significance of a study of ancient garment history, it is also vital to understand ancient garments in their original forms so that we can observe how garment design adapts and changes from age to age and how such adaptation has affected Orthodox Christian liturgical dress. A thorough knowledge of the basic forms of ancient garments also obviates confusion when the usage of different historical epochs and varying geographical regions results in the designation of the same garment by a variety of names.

  While some of the original garments of mankind were simple conventions for modesty’s sake (such as the loincloth), garments that served a less practical but more stylistic function were introduced at a very early period. The essential garment of this type is the long tunic,1 which is a length of cloth twice as long as the wearer, folded in half with an opening for the head cut along the fold. In addition to the circular aperture for the head there is also an extended opening which makes the garment easier to put on and which appears in one of two versions: either a vertical slit down the front neck, or an opening horizontally along the shoulders. In some instances the tunic has no sleeves, but rather allows the excess fabric simply to drape over the body. In other cases sleeve extensions are added to the tunic and the sides are shaped or curved to bring the fit closer to the body. An overview of Figs. 1 and 2 will readily convey the two basic design variations of this garment.

  Figure 1. An Egyptian kalasiris, an early version of the tunic. The circle in the middle is an opening for the head. (Carl Kohler, History of Costume, Dover Publications, 55).

  Figure 2. An Egyptian kalasiris shown with sleeve extensions (trapezoidal pieces at top and bottom of figure). (Carl Kohler, History of Costume, Dover Publications, 55).

  In ancient times, the use of long garments was often, although not exclusively, reserved for the upper classes, since it required not only a certain amount of financial resources to own a voluminous, and therefore more costly, garment, it also meant that the wearer would not be participating in any strenuous physical labor which would be hindered by a flowing garment. Most slaves, soldiers, and those of the lower classes wore shorter versions of the tunic, in which it was easier to work and fight.

  In Egypt the basic tunic was referred to as the kalasiris and was introduced shortly after the New Kingdom, c. 1000 BC. This simple tunic, with a variety of subtle variations, was widely used among ancient Mesopotamian peoples as well. Along the Upper Euphrates a form of this garment was worn by the Retennu-Tehennu peoples,2 possibly by one specific clan or as the war-dress of this ancient people, but with an interesting addition: along seamlines and fronts it was covered with strips of colored material and the bottom hem was trimmed with tassels.3 The presence of this ornamentation illustrates one of the tunic’s most compelling features: its adaptability to a wide variety of decorative schemes. As a blank slate the tunic is almost without equal among historical garments. In the ancient world ornamentation was used to denote status and wealth, with those higher up the social ladder wearing garments with more elaborate decoration.

  Among the Hebrew people a variation on the tunic (see Fig. 3) appeared around the time of the Assyrian captivity and was most likely of Assyrian or Babylonian origin.4 This garment retained the general outline of the tunic, being a long rectangle with sleeve additions, but it modified the design with an opening extending along its entire front length in order to form a type of coat or caftan. It is interesting to note that this garment varies little in basic design from the bekishes still worn by Hasidic Jews (although the modern garment now has lapels and tailored sleeves). In both Assyria and Babylonia the usual dress was another variation of the tunic, similar to the Egyptian kalasiris which, while worn by all people from slave to king, was worn only to the knee by the lower classes, following the same general usage as other ancient cultures.5 This Assyrian and Babylonian tunic closely resembled the common garments of many other peoples in Western Asia and as far away from the Fertile Crescent as the Horn of Africa, where the Ethiopian
s also adopted a form of tunic for the upper classes.

  While all the ancient peoples thus far considered wore garments made of woven fabrics, an interesting technological difference is observed with the garments of Media and Persia. The climate of these regions was colder and thus the primary clothing materials used by their inhabitants were animal hides which, due to their stiffness and resistance to drape, inspired a different direction in garment design. Median and Persian garments (see Fig. 4) usually consisted of hose or breeches with a type of blouse-like shirt that in some instances resembled a heavier, coat-like garment.

  Figure 3. Hebrew caftan, shown with an opening from the neck (circle at center) to the front feet. (Carl Kohler, History of Costume, Dover Publications, 69).

  Figure 4. Median and Persian coat and breeches. The piece in the middle is the sleeve extension added to the coat. (Carl Kohler, History of Costume, Dover Publications, 75).

  There is a basic division in ancient garment design depending on whether the primary material of a culture is leather or a fabric made of woven threads. Tanned hides do not behave in the same way as light and flowing woven fabrics and cannot be decorated with the same techniques (it is far more difficult to pierce leather with a needle than wool or linen). However, despite the necessity for adaptation given the limitations of a particular material, the basic design of hide garments and woven garments share similar qualities: the hide garment, when laid out for cutting, is still a rectangular shape with an opening cut in the middle for the head. The Persian coat was often much closer-fitting than the Egyptian kalasiris or the Hebrew caftan, but in its essential design was, once again, a modified rectangle with a hole in the center for the head.6

  In any overview of ancient garment history, mention must also be made of the dress of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations (2100 BC to 1100 BC) since from these descended some of the garments of ancient Greece. Although their usual garments are distinctly different from those of Mesopotamia (men wore simple loincloths while women’s dress was quite elaborate and involved skirts with ruffled flounces and tightly fitted bodices), there is also record of a “Mainland Dress”7 worn by both sexes which was very similar to the tunics of Mesopotamia and was possibly reserved for either religious or ceremonial occasions.

  With an overview of these various ancient garments we can see that, despite some variations in details or decoration, the basic design of the tunic appears almost universally among mankind. While there is not sufficient room here to explore ancient Asian and South American clothing, these venerable cultures also employed garments closely resembling the tunic. From the general category of the tunic was to originate the Orthodox Christian baptismal sticharion, deacon’s sticharion, presbyter’s sticharion, and even, though through a more circuitous route of the tunic, evolving into the more elaborate form of the colobium (see below), the bishop’s sakkos.

  Garments of the Classical World

  Moving forward in history, the same tunic-style garments are found in widespread use in ancient Greece and Rome and it is here that we must become familiar with the classical terminology used to describe them: the chiton and tunica respectively. Once again the basic form is a rectangle of material suspended from the neck and draped over the body, but now with interesting variations appearing, most notably those associated with the folding and arrangement of the voluminous fabric. The most common materials used for ancient Greek garments were wool and linen, and the quality of these fabrics ranged from coarse and heavy to light and flowing depending on the skill of the spinner and weaver, the status of the wearer, and the desired character of the finished garment. In ancient Greece we observe remarkable ingenuity in the varied methods of draping or folding the chiton, which could be worn open along the length of the shoulders with pins keeping the garment fastened (rather than having a hole cut for the neck opening). This allowed for a great width of cloth to be used and thereby resulted in magnificent drapes of fabric which are commonly depicted in Greek artwork of the early period. Some depictions illustrate draping around the shoulder area while others show a chiton that is much longer than the wearer and is drawn up into graceful folds around the waist area by the use of a girdle or belt. In this ornamental draping we see a foreshadowing of the elaborately folded garments that will later develop into specific garments of office in ancient Rome and Byzantium.

  In addition to elaborate draping there were three general methods of decorating ancient Greek garments, all of which continue to be the forms of decoration used on Orthodox Christian vestments today. First is woven ornamentation in which a design is made while the fabric is being woven on the loom. This category can include an all-over woven design as well as highly decorated pieces of woven cloth that are made separately and then sewn onto a garment. (This latter option provided the flexibility of removing the ornamented sections or bands and placing them on new garments when the original garments wore out.) Second, while not very commonly used in modern times, is dye-painting, in which various designs such as the “wave pattern” or the “egg and tongue” were applied with dyestuffs, often in multiple layers and colors. The third category is embroidery, in which highly elaborate designs such as the “palmette” or floral and vegetative motifs were embroidered by hand using either wool or linen threads.8

  While it is in the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt that we find the origins of the universal tunic, it is in ancient Greece and Rome that we first encounter an equally influential garment, the himation or clamys, a type of cloak.

  Figure 5. Himation. (Mary G. Houston, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Costume, Dover Publications, 68).

  Various rectangularly shaped, cloak-like garments were in use simultaneously with the tunic throughout most of the ancient world, since cold or inclement weather necessitated a warm, outer wrap. But in classical Rome the ancient cloak reached the pinnacle of its design in the toga, that symbol of Roman citizenship and patriotism, “the chief and most distinctive feature of Roman costume in Republican and Imperial times,” which developed out of the Greek himation.9 The standard toga was constructed of wool, almost always in its undyed, natural state which varied in color from ivory to parchment tones, depending on the breed of sheep from which the wool was derived (two exceptions to the undyed toga were the military toga which was dyed red and the mourning toga which was dyed a dark color). The toga was a flattened semi-circle of fabric, over eighteen feet long and seven feet deep, and was free of decoration except for decorative bands along its edges known as clavi. These clavi appeared sometimes along the long edge and sometimes along the curved edge of the toga (see Fig. 6).

  Figure 6. A Roman toga shown draped on the body and laid out as a flattened semi-circle. (Mary G. Houston, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Costume, Dover Publications, 91).

  At the height of its usage in ancient Rome, there were eight separate types of toga ranging from those worn by ordinary citizens, to those worn in mourning, to the special toga candida reserved for use by candidates for public office. There was a specific toga to be worn by a victorious general (and later by emperors and consuls) and another worn by youths under sixteen. The toga was the garment par excellence among the Romans and they valued it greatly. Despite its simple shape, it was a complicated garment to wear because, in the time-honored fashion established by the ancient Greeks, it required a highly distinctive form of draping to be worn correctly. To give an idea of its complexity, garment historian Mary G. Houston gives these directions for its proper draping (see Fig 6):

  The method of draping is as follows: Begin by making toga into folds of about eight inches wide and arrange them so that the stripe [clavus] will show. Wind one end backwards from the wrist to shoulder of left arm so that the arm is entirely covered….Now pass over the left shoulder and draw it downwards across the back until it rests at right side of waist, and, having sufficiently loosened the folds to allow the curved edge to reach the ankles, draw the straight edge onwards across the front of waist, still keeping it in folds t
o prevent trailing. Continue round the back of waist until the right side is reached again. Now take the whole garment and throw upwards across the chest and over the left shoulder, taking care to display the band. Draw downwards across the back to the right side again. Now unwind the portion of toga from the left arm and allow it to hang down to the feet from the left shoulder. Last of all, take the still undraped portion of the toga and throw it across the front of the body and across the crook of the left elbow, the left arm being bent at a right angle to thus receive it.10

  In addition to the tunica and the toga there were other garments in use during Roman times that influenced Orthodox Christian liturgical dress and thus must be mentioned. The colobium was a version of the tunica that had shortened sleeves. It was worn by Roman men of free birth and eventually developed into the liturgical garment referred to in the West as the dalmatic and in the Orthodox Church as the deacon’s sticharion. The colobium reached its most elaborate and ornamented version as the court dress of Byzantine emperors and empresses (as seen in early Byzantine mosaics) which garments in turn served as the source of the bishop’s sakkos and, in a historically significant parallel development, influenced the court dress of almost every royal house in Western Europe.11 The paenula, a cloak of semi-circular shape, was worn by both men and women primarily for travel or in place of the toga in the case of those residing in the country, and it did not have the same high status as the toga. Another form of the cloak, the pallium, was a long, rectangular garment distantly related to the toga which, while rarely worn by ancient Romans, being considered too distinctly Greek (since it was identical with the Greek himation), came back into vogue sometime prior to the founding of Constantinople.