Marble female figure

Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, optical microscopy


The figure is intact except for the restored left foot, and mended breaks at the neck, left knee and right ankle. This reclining female figure has a flat back and bent knees. Its backward-tilted, long, lyre-shaped head has a rounded chin and crown, and an especially long, well-centered nose carved in relief. The equally long, slender neck slightly tapers upward. It has deeply sloping, rounded shoulders and slightly, doughy arms that project slightly at the sides. An incision on either side distinguishes the upper arms from the figure’s chest. The right upper arm is disproportionately longer than the left, and three horizontal incisions define the uncharacteristically thick forearms, folded left over right, below a pair of unevenly-spaced, circular breasts carved in relief, and above a slight belly. A fine horizontal incision indicates the top of the pubic triangle. A sharp groove delineates the thighs of the legs, which then separate at the bent knees. Shallow incisions delineate the lower legs from where the top of the outsplayed feet begin, and tiny incisions indicate five toes on each foot. At the rear a fine curved incised line delineates the head from the neck. A fine vertical incision indicates the spine and upper buttocks with a curved incision delineating the lower buttocks from the legs. Finely incised horizontal lines indicates the backs of the knees and ankles.

The surface of the marble is eroded along calcite grain boundaries and pitted in some places. There are patches of brown accretions, some of which are shaped like rootlets.


Sandy MacGillivray and Dorothy Abramitis