I wonder if the painter was feeling like someone was trying to take him down, or something like that, and that's why he found this scene more compelling?
I think your second option sounds likely.... If he didn't have the encyclopedic knowledge that you do (<3), he may have thought that whoever was higher had the fancier toga all the time. Or! Perhaps he decided that, even though he knew the senatorial toga was assigned incorrectly, it would be easier for the audience to understand who was who in the scene because of the said misunderstanding of status.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-04-09 04:34 pm (UTC)I think your second option sounds likely.... If he didn't have the encyclopedic knowledge that you do (
<3), he may have thought that whoever was higher had the fancier toga all the time. Or! Perhaps he decided that, even though he knew the senatorial toga was assigned incorrectly, it would be easier for the audience to understand who was who in the scene because of the said misunderstanding of status.