Mycenaean Chariot


Mycenaean Chariot
Originally uploaded by Wahj.
I set myself the small target of painting one chariot for Sunday night, partly because I was bored, and partly because I want to start somewhere on my Mycenaean DBA army.

The miniatures are from Museum Miniatures, and are generally well-moulded. The charioteer included in the pack was, for some unfathomable reason, holding a figure-of-eight shield and a spear, in such a manner than he couldn't fit into the chariot along with the driver. I replaced him with another figure that meant to be a dendra-armoured noble on foot, but whose posture made him perfect for a "lance"-using charioteer.

I've always been fascinated by the Dendra panoply that the Mycenaeans wore: people have described the overall effect as a walking bronze dustbin ( here's a link to a modern reconstruction of the Dendra armour that demonstrates exactly what this looks like), and I have to agree that it can look a bit funny, but it's also very cool precisely because it does not concord with our idea of what armour ought to look like. For a charioteer, who need only worry about exposing his torso and arms, the panoply works fine, and has that certain perfunctory beauty that comes with practical, functional things.

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