Crete, Sfakian archer 1590
 

Hallo,
I attach 2 prints from Vecelio's book "De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diverse parti del mondo" ( 1st edition 1590 ) This is from "Libro VIII de gli habiti de Greci, Sfachiotto di Candia"
Sfakia is the area of White Mountains of West Crete, a place famous for its warlike tradition and love of freedom. AT that time Crete was under Venetian occupation which ended in 1645 with the Turkish invasion.
It is a male Sfakian who carries his bow, and a woman from the same area.
Are there any comments regarding the type of bow, the type of sword and the dress outfit in generall? Is it really an accurate picture according to the details of the time? Any other comments?

Art
 

Hello Eftihis,

Paintings, prints and art are major references for identifying and dating objects contained in them. Artists painted what they saw and often very accurately, the painting are usually datable to within one year and the objects displayed can be assumed to date from that period. Its one of the main reasons historians have such an accurate grasp on the dating of European arms and armor. Keep in mind notion of absract or impressionist art had not been thought of yet, not till after the invention of the camera. Its was much a paint what you see.

The man in this print carries a bow over his right shoulder and a quiver carried on his right side. The bow appears to be a compound type, the quiver slung low is I believe in a Middle Eastern manner. The sword seems to have a long straight blade, tried to overlay a straight line over the top of the scabbard and it stayed inline with the handle, thats my basis for saying straight sword.

There is quite a bit of influence from the Ottomans and this may should the result of that. Little bit of research and the bow type can be identified, certainly is not a long bow.

There is a great book called "Arrows Against Steel" by Hurley, about the use of the asian reflex bow. You can google it or search your local library.

rand