maphorion

Also note, the adoption for the first time in our anonymous master of innovation Duccio: the "maphorion" (sailing virgin) white.

The Theotokos (Virgin Mary) is shown wearing a maphorion, a more shaped mantle with a hood and sometimes a hole at the neck.

The Virgin is often shown with three stars as a symbol of innocence on her maphorion (veil), one at the forehead and one on each shoulder.

Women in Ancient Greece wore himations; and in Ancient Rome women wore the Palla, a rectangular mantle, and the maphorion.

Each year, on August 15 (the feast of Dormition), after the adoration of the Maphorion (holy veil) of the Virgin, the Emperor plunged three times in the sacred pool.

So far his work (Maesta the central panel of the triptych of Oxford or the "Madonna of Detroit" (accessed September 27, 2013) kept the red "maphorion" of the Byzantine tradition.

In this occasion, the Veil of the Virgin (maphorion), which by that time had joined the other relics in the church, was shortly plunged in the sea to invoke the protection of God on the fleet.