Fibula (leech type)
Geometric Period (800–700 BCE)
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
4 × 4.4 × 1.2 cm (1 5/8 × 1 3/4 × 1/2 in.)
Classification
votive offering
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
196465
Art Historical Context
This delicate bronze fibula, or brooch, from Greece's Geometric Period (800700 BCE), exemplifies the's masterful metalworking and emerging artistic sophistication. Shaped in the distinctive "leech" form—resembling the segmented body of a leech—it measures just 4 × 4.4 × 1.2 cm, small enough to fasten a garment yet intricately crafted. Fibulae like this were essential accessories in daily life, securing cloaks and tunics, but this one served as a votive offering, dedicated to deities in a sanctuary as a token of gratitude or supplication. The Geometric Period marked Greece's recovery from the ...
About the Artist
Ancient Greek
The artist known simply as "Ancient Greek" represents the anonymous masters of Attic vase painting, a cornerstone of Classical Greek art from the Archaic and Classical periods (circa 700–300 BCE). Little is known of their personal life, as ancient Greek potters and painters rarely signed their works or left biographical traces; early life and training remain not well documented. These creators ope...