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Terracotta statuette of a seated woman

late 6th–early 5th century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 156
Small figurines were made to be presented as votive gifts to a deity. It is not always clear whether they represent a god, a priest or priestess, or a person offering a gift. These rigid figures seated on thrones and wearing elaborate headdresses are probably goddesses. Hundreds of such statues were buried in trenches on the Akropolis after the Persians looted and burned Athens in 480 B.C., and it has been suggested that they represent an early cult statue of Athena.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta statuette of a seated woman
  • Period: Archaic
  • Date: late 6th–early 5th century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, probably Boeotian
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: H. 6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm)
  • Classification: Terracottas
  • Credit Line: Gift of Louise Crane, in memory of her mother, Mrs. W. Murray Crane, 1980
  • Object Number: 1980.303.5
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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