Ex-Voto in the shape of a Female Head
Ex-Voto in the shape of a Female Head
This veiled female head is carved in very high relief on the plaque, whose edges are curved. The two vertical edges, visible in the lower plaque, indicate the borders of the veil.
5th century B.C.
H: 17.7 cm
In stock
Product Description
This veiled female head is carved in very high relief on the plaque, whose edges are curved. The two vertical edges, visible in the lower plaque, indicate the borders of the veil. Above the head, the veil is pierced with a small circular suspension hole (invisible when watching the woman frontally).
The elongated and elegant face is finely worked, with well-modeled and nuanced surfaces: the almond-shaped eyes, the profile with the accurate, straight nose, the slightly contracted mouth, a typical expression on Archaic Greek figures known as the “Archaic smile”. Her rich adornment is composed of a flat diadem, which supports the veil, and of circular earrings.
Such protomes were largely widespread in the Greek world, in Attic but also in Eastern Greece and in the Western colonies, between the 6th and the early 5th century B.C. They were offered to female deities (especially Hera and Aphrodite) in sanctuaries, where they were suspended by the hole pierced on the upper head; in other cases, they were part of the funerary furniture and were placed in the tomb.
