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Unknown Maker, Greek

Female Figure
Now On View

Maker

Unknown Maker, Greek

Culture

Greek, Cycladic

Title

Female Figure

Period

Bronze Age

Year

2500 BC-2400 BC

Medium

  • parian marble

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Parian marble

Materials

parian marble

Geography

Cycladic

Dimensions

15.9 x 5.7 x 2.9 cm (6 1/4 x 2 1/4 x 1 1/8 inches) (assembled)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

36.188

Type

  • Sculpture

Publications

  • Books

Classical Sculpture

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries
Sep 22, 2010

Label copy

Cycladic figurines like this were likely to have had funerary or magical associations and would have been used in ceremonial cult contexts or household shrines. With the head tilted back, knees slightly flexed, toes slanted downward, and arms folded beneath the chest, this female figure is an example of the most popular type of figurine found in the Cyclades. Cycladic figurines were created using tools made from stones such as emery, obsidian, flint, and pumice to carve and then smooth the surface of the marble. While it may be difficult to imagine today, in antiquity this figure would have been painted. Faint traces of pigment still remain, delineating the figure’s lower eyelashes and two braids on the back of the head.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Greek
Female Figure, 2500 BC-2400 BC
Parian marble
15.9 x 5.7 x 2.9 cm (6 1/4 x 2 1/4 x 1 1/8 inches) (assembled)
Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth 36.188

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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