Female Figure

Female Figure

Cycladic, 2500–2400 B.C.

Marble with traces of polychrome

Purchase, Frank C. Atherton Memorial Fund, 1976 (4386.1)

This female figure is from a Bronze Age (c. 2900-2200 B.C.) cemetery in the Cyclades, a group of islands in the Aegean Sea located between the mainland of Greece and Turkey. Though unusual in its large scale, it is a late example of the Spedos Variety, a class of female figures with folded arms, so named for the locale from which they were excavated. The near- perfect geometry and extreme flatness of the head and torso are balanced by the subtle modeling and incised lines that define the various limbs and sections of the body. Originally polychrome, the face retains faint traces of pigment: double rows of red dots cross the cheeks, nose, and forehead, and bluish hues are perceptible in the region of the eyes.

Cycladic female figure old label