Large female statue; Greece, Boeotia, 5th century BC.
Polychrome terracotta.
The polychromy is missing due to the passage of time.
Part of the base is missing.
Measurements: 33 x 9 x 5.5 cm.
Round sculpture representing a female figure on its pedestal, dressed in peplos and wearing a "polo shirt", on which a carefully curled hair can be seen. The figure, which retains traces of the polychromy that mark the details of the costume, is notable for the great hieratism it displays, conditioned by the posture in which it was conceived.
In Boeotia (Greece), terracotta figures of this type from the Greek period were used both as offerings in temples and sanctuaries and as funerary offerings. The earliest Greek sculptures (9th century BC) were small human figures made of malleable materials such as clay, ivory or wax. It was not until the Archaic period (7th and 6th centuries BC) that the Greeks began to work with stone, but other materials were preserved, mainly pottery due to the rise of this industry, for small pieces intended to serve as offerings in temples or as part of funerary offerings. These types of pieces were modelled in clay and decorated with white or black engobes (coloured liquid clay), which were then fired in the kiln. The most common theme was the human figure, not so much divinities as in the large pieces, but characters from everyday life, as in the case of this statuette.