Marble male figure
Male figures are rare in Cycladic art. Even less common are examples like this one that exhibit both male and female features. The carved hair (usually painted on female statuettes) and pronounced genitalia are characteristically male, but the artist followed the same overall form used for contemporary female representations, including the clearly defined breasts. Figures of ambiguous gender are found in Aegean sculpture as early as the fifth millennium bce, but their meaning is unknown.
Artwork Details
- Title: Marble male figure
- Period: Early Cycladic II
- Date: 2400–2300 BCE or later
- Culture: Cycladic
- Medium: Marble
- Dimensions: H. 14 1/8 in. (35.9 cm)
- Classification: Stone Sculpture
- Credit Line: Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
- Object Number: 1972.118.103
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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