Statuette of a Woman
about 450 BCE
Medium
terracotta, polychromy
Dimensions
27.6 × 8.3 × 6.4 cm (10 7/8 × 3 1/4 × 2 1/2 in.)
Classification
statuette
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
222013
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Industrious workshops in Boeotia produced thousands of mold-made terracotta statuettes for religious, decorative, and funerary use for several centuries. This engaging statuette represents a woman whose down-turned eyes and pursed lips lend her a dejected air. Her hair is drawn up on the crown of her head and wrapped in a length of patterned cloth. She is clothed in a full-length, sleeveless dress and adorned with a necklace with seven pendants and a pair of bracelets on each arm. Remarkable for...
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...