THE AZOREAN WOMEN IN THE HOODED CAPE –Acrylic on Canvas € 1.920
The Azorean Woman in the Hood (called in Portuguese “A Mulher do Capote e Capelo”) is a typically Azorean garment once used only by women in Faial Island. The cut of the cape and the hood went on to vary from island to island and it was made of strong, heavy electric-blue wool that was passed on from mothers to daughters. The arch on the hood was generally supported with whalebone and covered the face of the woman so that the woman beneath could remain unrecognized, and that added to their mystique.
“The general style of the capote is the same in all the islands and will remain so for the next ten thousand years, but each island shapes its capotes just enough differently from the others to enable an observer to tell at a glance what particular island a lady hail from.” (Mark Twain – “Innocent Abroad”1869)
The women of the Azores didn’t wait “ten thousand years” to stop wearing the “capote e capelo” but it was part of the past by the 1930’s. It is still a historic symbol of women of the islands.
