Neolithic figures are predominately female, but their poses and anatomy vary widely. This statuette, with its voluminous lower body, represents a type undoubtedly associated with fertility and reproduction, a central concern in ancient Mediterranean cultures. Very little is known about the meaning and function of these objects. Similar figures in both stone and clay have been found in burials, settlements, and religious contexts throughout Greece, where they likely served multiple purposes.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Marble female figure
Period:Final Neolithic
Date:4500–4000 BCE
Culture:Cycladic
Medium:Marble
Dimensions:H. 8 7/16 in. (21.4 cm)
Classification:Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
Object Number:1972.118.104
[Until 1926, with Theodoros Zoumpoulakis (Zoumboulakis), Michel Roussos, and Moise Emmanuelides, Athens and Paris]; [1926, acquired by Joseph Brummer, purchased from Th. Zoumpoulakis, M. Roussos, and M. Emmanuelides]; [1926-1947, with Joseph Brummer, the Brummer Gallery, New York (A123)]; 1947, purchased by Walter Cummings Baker from the Brummer Gallery; 1947-1971, collection of Walter C. Baker, New York; acquired in 1972, bequest of W. C. Baker.
von Bothmer, Dietrich and René d'Harnoncourt. 1950. Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities: An Exhibition from the Collection of Walter Cummings Baker, Esq. no. 52, p. 10, pl. 15, New York: Walter Cummings Baker.
Weinberg, Saul S. 1951. "Neolithic Figurines and Aegean Interrelations." American Journal of Archaeology, 55(2): pp. 125, 126, 128.
Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museums. 1954. Ancient art in American private collections. A loan exhibition at the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University, December 28, 1954-February 15, 1955. no. 127, pl. 35, Cambridge, Mass: Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museums.
von Bothmer, Dietrich. 1961. Ancient Art from New York Private Collections: Catalogue of an Exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 17, 1959–February 28, 1960. no. 86, p. 19, pls. 26–27, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mellink, Matcheld J. and Jan Filip. 1974. Frühe Stufen der Kunst. nos. 156–7, p. 221, Berlin: Propylaen-Verlag.
Thimme, Jürgen. 1976. Kunst und Kultur der Kykladeninseln im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.: Ausstellung unter d. Patronat des International Council of Museums ICOM im Karlsruher Schloss vom 25. Juni-10. Oktober 1976. no. 1, p. 419, Karlsruhe: Müller.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1979. Greek Art of the Aegean Islands. no. 1, p. 45, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Getz-Preziosi, Pat. 1985. Early Cycladic Sculpture: An Introduction. p. 29, fig. 9, Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum.
Getz-Preziosi, Pat. 1987. Early Cycladic Art in North American Collections. no. no. 1, p. 126, Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Getz-Preziosi, Pat. 1994. Early Cycladic Sculpture: An Introduction (Revised ed.). p. 29, fig. 9, Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum.
Mertens, Joan R. 1998. "Some Long Thoughts on Early Cycladic Sculpture." Metropolitan Museum Journal, 33: pp. 8–9, fig. 2.
Mertens, Joan R. 1998. "Some Long Thoughts on Early Cycladic Sculpture." Metropolitan Museum Journal, 33: pp. 8–9, fig. 2.
Mertens, Joan R. 2002. "Cycladic Art in the Metropolitan Museum. Antecedents and Acquisitions." Silent Witnesses: Early Cycladic Art of the Third Millennium BC, Christos G. Doumas, ed. p. 17, fig. g, New York: Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA), Inc.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 1, pp. 29, 409, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2020. ART = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History. p. 049, New York: Phaidon Press.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
