Femina Indica Orientalis, Indus Africanus, Syngara vulgo dicta siue erratica femina Orientalis

Designer Jean Jacques Boissard French
Engraver Julius Goltzius Netherlandish
Publisher Caspar Rutz Netherlandish

Not on view

Engraving, part of 'Habitus variarum orbis gentium' (Costumes of the various peoples of the world), representing the costumes of men and women from various parts of the world, engraved after designs by Boissard and published by Rutz in 1581.

This engraving represents an East Indian woman, an African Indian man, and an Oriental gypsy woman. On the right, the East Indian woman wears a sleeveless draped robe and a cape with fringed edges. Her hair is curled and partially covered with a hat made up of three layers of small panels. A beaded armband is on her left arm. She wears large pendant earrings with hoops and round hanging stones. Her shoes are flat and with thin straps, worn with socks. She carries a young boy with short, curled hair over her left shoulder. A young girl (?), dressed like her, walks at her right.

On the center, the African Indian man wears a short robe with one shoulder, with a strip of ovals below the knees and another strip with fur around the calves, and flat sandals with straps. A belt with square motifs is diagonally across his chest, holding a quiver of arrows behind his back. He holds a bow on the right hand and an arrown on the left. His hair is long and curled, as is his beard, and he wears a headdress with layers of feathers.

On the right, the Oriental gypsy woman wears a long robe with horizontal stripes with floral motifs and fringed edges, and with long bell sleeves, also with horizontal stripes with floral motifs, under a cape, which is wrapped around a yound child that she carries in her arms. Her hair is long and curly, loose under a wide-brimmed hat. Her shoes are flat and have pointed toes. She wears two beaded bracelets on her left wrist.

No image available

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.