Statuette of a Goddess

Greek; Boeotia →

archaic (greek)statuetteearthenware

Date

600-580 BCE

Medium

terracotta

Dimensions

18.2 × 7.7 × 6.8 cm (7 3/16 × 3 1/16 × 2 11/16 in.)

Museum

Art Institute of Chicago

Location

Chicago, IL

Credit

George W. Sheldon Fund

This terracotta sculpture was fashioned from locally abundant clay in Boeotia, situated to the northwest of Athens. The standing female wears a tall headdress and a painted necklace with a pomegranate pendant, which suggests that she depicts either Demeter or Persephone, goddesses of the harvest and agricultural fertility, respectively. Statuettes like this one were created in great numbers, probably as gifts to the gods or to be placed in graves.

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