Not a scientific one, but might still be hard to answer.... what is this head garment depicted on the 1753 Leonhard Euler portrait by Emanuel Handmann?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler#mediaviewer/File:Leonhard_Euler.jpg

 

I always wondered.

It appears to be a silk headdress according to http://www.pastellists.com/Articles/Handmann.pdf.

 

 

Euler,

which has decorated postage stamps, is a good

example of the characteristic attention paid to

the silk headdress and striped robe. This interest

in accessories makes it unsurprising that he

turned to the 1714

Recueil de cent estampes

représentant différentes nations du Levant

(assembled

by M. de Ferriol, French ambassador to the

Porte) for the inspiration for Esther Mutach-

Steiger as la Sultane Reine.

Great question!

 

At first I thought it was a chaperon, but they were out of fashion by then. It actually seems to be a sort of turban-influenced thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaperon_%28headgear%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Humanities/2013_September_9#18thC_Head_dress

Oh, I think both of you made most excellent finds. Thanks.... When I was I kid I was thinking that Euler is maybe wearing a pajama. In the meantime I learned that portraits usually show the best outfit a person had.