COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
AIC_.1978.115
amicoid
AIC_.1978.115
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Sculpture
oty
Sculpture
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Unknown
crn
Unknown
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
European; Southern European; Greek
crc
European; Southern European; Greek
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Dates/Places:
Ancient Mediterranean, Aegean Islands Europe,Greece,Aegean Islands
cdt
Ancient Mediterranean, Aegean Islands Europe,Greece,Aegean Islands
Creator Dates/Places
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Unknown
crt
Unknown
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
Female Figure
otn
Female Figure
Title
false
Title Type:
preferred
ott
preferred
Title Type
false
View:
front view
rid
front view
View
false
Creation Date:
Bronze Age, Early Cycladic II, 2600/2400 B.C.
oct
Bronze Age, Early Cycladic II, 2600/2400 B.C.
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
-2600
ocs
-2600
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
-2400
oce
-2400
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
Marble, Spedos variety
omd
Marble, Spedos variety
Materials and Techniques
false
Style or Period:
Aegean
std
Aegean
Style or Period
false
Subject Description:
This female figure, shaped from a block of island marble, is characteristic of the sculpture of the Cyclades in the third millennium B.C. There is some damage to the nose and the top of the head, and the lower legs were broken off from above the knee and are lost. The local crystalline marble, which splits easily, encouraged the development of a simple style that the conservatism of artisans and users maintained for 500 years. The forms of this sculpture are uncompromisingly abstract: the face is an oval tilted back, the nose a pronounced ridge, and the neck a cylinder. The folded arms are rendered schematically, with only shallow incision articulating fingers, while the abdomen and thighs are long with simple, almost shapeless contours. In profile, the whole figure is strikingly flat and thin. Details of the eyes, mouth, ears, and hair were probably added in paint.
sup
This female figure, shaped from a block of island marble, is characteristic of the sculpture of the Cyclades in the third millennium B.C. There is some damage to the nose and the top of the head, and the lower legs were broken off from above the knee and are lost. The local crystalline marble, which splits easily, encouraged the development of a simple style that the conservatism of artisans and users maintained for 500 years. The forms of this sculpture are uncompromisingly abstract: the face is an oval tilted back, the nose a pronounced ridge, and the neck a cylinder. The folded arms are rendered schematically, with only shallow incision articulating fingers, while the abdomen and thighs are long with simple, almost shapeless contours. In profile, the whole figure is strikingly flat and thin. Details of the eyes, mouth, ears, and hair were probably added in paint.
Subject Description
false
Creation Place:
Europe,Greece,Aegean Islands,Cyclades department,Kéa island
ocp
Europe,Greece,Aegean Islands,Cyclades department,Kéa island
Creation Place
false
Dimensions:
H.: 39.6 cm (15-3/4 in.)
met
H.: 39.6 cm (15-3/4 in.)
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Art Institute of Chicago
oon
The Art Institute of Chicago
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Chicago, Illinois, USA
oop
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1978.115
ooa
1978.115
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
The Art Institute of Chicago, Katherine K. Adler Endowment
ooc
The Art Institute of Chicago, Katherine K. Adler Endowment
Credit Line
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html"target="_new">http://www.artic.edu/aic/rights/main.rights.html</a>
Rights
false
Context:
Greek, Cycladic Islands, probably from the island of Keros. Bronze Age, Early Cycladic II, Spedos variety. The female figure was, by far, the most popular subject of this style, although other themes included musicians and male warriors. These scultures have been found mostly in graves, but also in domestic settings. The context of the so-called 'Keros hoard,' from which this piece is thought to have come, continues to be debated. So the specific function of these figures remains puzzling, although they evidently enjoyed use in life and death. Were they images of respected ancestors? Or heroines? Or deities? Whatever their creators had in mind, the enthusiasm for representational art that they embody was the special strength of Cycladic artistic production in the third millennium B.C., and this skill distinguished the islands culturally both from contemporay Crete and mainland Greece.
cxd
Greek, Cycladic Islands, probably from the island of Keros. Bronze Age, Early Cycladic II, Spedos variety. The female figure was, by far, the most popular subject of this style, although other themes included musicians and male warriors. These scultures have been found mostly in graves, but also in domestic settings. The context of the so-called 'Keros hoard,' from which this piece is thought to have come, continues to be debated. So the specific function of these figures remains puzzling, although they evidently enjoyed use in life and death. Were they images of respected ancestors? Or heroines? Or deities? Whatever their creators had in mind, the enthusiasm for representational art that they embody was the special strength of Cycladic artistic production in the third millennium B.C., and this skill distinguished the islands culturally both from contemporay Crete and mainland Greece.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
AIC_.E28547.TIF
ril
AIC_.E28547.TIF
Related Image Identifier Link
false