Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Caliptra

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

CALIP'TRA or CALYP'TRA (καλύπτρα, κάλυμμα). A veil worn in public by the young women of Greece and Italy, for the purpose of concealing the features from the gaze of strangers (Festus, s. v. Hom. Od. v. 232. Soph. Ag. 245.), very similar to what the Turkish women still use. It was placed on the top of the head, and wrapped round the face in such a manner as to conceal every part of it except the upper portion of the nose and one of the eyes (Eurip. Iph. T. 372.), and fell down over the shoulders to about the middle of the figure, precisely as seen in the illustration (Caliptra/1.1), from a small terra-cotta figure in the Collegio Romano. A veil of this kind was also worn by the brides of Greece (Aesch. Ag. 1149.), and the same costume is still preserved at Rome for the young women who receive a dowry from the state on the festival of the Annunciation.

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  Caliptra/1.1