At 5:39 PM +0100 2/5/01, damien boquet wrote:
>Mitra désigne donc à l'origine une coiffure en forme de bandeau
>(headband). Or, à l'origine la mitre épiscopale était souple, elle
>tenait donc grâce à un bandeau qui donne son nom à la coiffure :
>mitra. Ce n'est qu'au début du XIIIème siècle que la mitre prend sa
>forme actuelle, rigide : mitre bicorne (en rappel des 2 testaments,
>des cornes de Moïse ou de la tiare d'Aaron), frontale et fendue,
>prolongée de 2 fanons qui tombent sr les épaules. A noter que
>pendant longtemps, la tiare pontificale est appelée mitra papalis.
I believe I have read (though I don't remember the source) that the
less-stiff early form of the miter was worn sideways, with the
"horns" over each ear, rather than facing the front and back of the
head as became the custom later.
It seems to have developed as a bandeau which was made into a
closed-top hat by sewing the rim of a simple square bag to the
bandeau. When worn with the top seam running across the top of the
head from ear to ear, it naturally tends to fall into a shape with
the "ends" standing more or less vertically above each ear, due to
the added stiffness provided by the end seams. In the center, there
is a sagging area that runs from the forehead to the back of the
head. As the miter developed, this fold was replaced by a seam, and
the fabric pieces were cut in a more tailored and shaped fashion. The
ends were flattened and stiffened, producing the modern form.
(I am told that the [modern] retired Bishop of Leicester, Richard
Rutt, who wrote a major book on the history of knitted textiles, has
what is probably the world's only hand-knitted miter. It's said to be
quite warm and comfortable.)
--
_________________________________________________________
O Chris Laning
| <[log in to unmask]>
+ Davis, California
_________________________________________________________
|