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HomeAbstracta IranicaVolume 32-333. Histoire, Art et Archéologie, ...3.2. Ouest de l’Iran3.2.3. Séleucides, Parthes et Sas...Tadashi Tanabe. Diffusion of the ...

3. Histoire, Art et Archéologie, Période pré-Islamique
3.2. Ouest de l’Iran
3.2.3. Séleucides, Parthes et Sassanides
203

Tadashi Tanabe. Diffusion of the Greek gesture of touching another’s chin with raised hand in the East

Vito Messina
Bibliographical reference

Tadashi Tanabe. « Diffusion of the Greek gesture of touching another’s chin with raised hand in the East ». Parthica, 12, 2010, p. 81-94.

Full text

1The gesture of touching or grasping another person’s chin with one hand supposedly originated in Greece. It was widespread in the ancient Near and Far East during the Hellenistic period, and survived for a long time even though it apparently became sporadic. Several scholars have speculated on this gesture’s meaning, which is still obscure. No exhaustive survey has been made of its diffusion in Asia. This article comments on several documents from ancient Persia and Gandhara that present this gesture in different contexts. It compares these sources iconographically with the Greek prototypes. The gesture might represent universal attitudes, such as coquetry or entreaty. It must have had different meanings depending on the artist’s cultural background.

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References

Electronic reference

Vito Messina, Tadashi Tanabe. Diffusion of the Greek gesture of touching another’s chin with raised hand in the EastAbstracta Iranica [Online], Volume 32-33 | 2013, document 203, Online since 01 July 2016, connection on 18 April 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/abstractairanica/40582; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/abstractairanica.40582

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The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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