Perizoma (loincloth)
type of loincloth
Perizoma (Greek περίζωμα, plural; perizomata) is a type of loincloth that was worn in Ancient Greece. The perizoma was typically worn by manual laborers or athletes. This garment could be worn independently or with a short chiton or even underneath a longer chiton. Homer references the perizoma in his epic The Iliad underscoring its role in ancient Greek dress.
The perizoma is thought to have originated with the Minoan civilization in Crete. Surviving depictions show it being worn by male and female acrobats (for example, in the Bull-Leaping Fresco).
A perizoma was possibly worn by Jesus during his crucifixion. It is a standard feature of the crucifixion in the arts. However, the Roman custom was to crucify victims naked, and there is no evidence to suggest that Jesus was an exception. Perizoma was likely added by later artists to preserve modesty (see fig leaf) and first appeared in the 8th century.
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This entry incorporates text from “Perizoma (loincloth)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.