03-31-2016, 03:49 PM
I, like Nathan, am not disposed to dismiss out of hand artistic representations as merely 'classizing', there are far too many similar images to say they were not drawing upon contemporary styles. I maintain that due to the very nature of mosaics it would be difficult to represent the typical artistic representation of the Late Roman helmets we see which include the 'Attic' brow guards, which I believe are what the artists are trying to depict here. The other thing to mention is that the infantry have either round or oval shields, some with the 'Star' design on them that are also found on monuments such as the Arch of Arcadius.
The first depiction that Evan has put up is interesting in that the shoulder pieces are obviously coloured blue to represent iron, as the cuirasses and mail representations are, but the helmets are coloured to represent a much lighter colour, possibly brass or highly polished iron ('their helmets shone with scintillating light...'). There are other stone monumental works, with no surviving colour sadly, that show similar representations in the Museum in Istanbul that I put links to the photo's I took there a few years ago now.
The first depiction that Evan has put up is interesting in that the shoulder pieces are obviously coloured blue to represent iron, as the cuirasses and mail representations are, but the helmets are coloured to represent a much lighter colour, possibly brass or highly polished iron ('their helmets shone with scintillating light...'). There are other stone monumental works, with no surviving colour sadly, that show similar representations in the Museum in Istanbul that I put links to the photo's I took there a few years ago now.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar
