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Marble Female Figure (fragment)

Date ca. 440 B.C.
Object type sculpture
Medium, technique carved, marble
Dimensions

height: 92 cm, width: 36 cm, depth: 42.5 cm

Inventory number 4721
Collection Classical Antiquities
On view Museum of Fine Arts, Basement Floor, Classical Antiquity, The ancient Mediterranean

Statues (acroteria) were often positioned at the three corner points of a temple pediment; perhaps the torso was a statue of this kind. It may represent Nike (Victory) or Iris, the herald of the gods, as many acroteria do. But it is also possible that another mythological figure (Atalanta? Callisto? one of the Danaides?) was meant: the interpretation is made difficult by the statue’s fragmentary condition. The rank of the piece is shown by its material, the best quality marble (Parian lychnites), and also by its high esteem already in antiquity: the Basel Museum preserves a very similar, and more intact piece dating to the Roman period, which may have been modelled on this one.

Marble analyses have shown that the statue was made of Parian (Paros-Marathi) marble.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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