Marble female figure

Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, optical microscopy


The figure, carved from white marble, has been reassembled from several pieces. The statuette is repaired at the base of the neck, at the top of the legs, through the hips and at the knees. The proper left leg below the knee is restored, and there is a large fill in the upper part of the proper left arm and partial fill in the proper left breast. The proper right buttock and upper thigh are reattached. Most of the surface is heavily weathered and covered with a thin layer of pale brown encrustation. Some of the abrasions on the surface are inpainted.


The features of this attenuated figure are subtly carved with rounded contours. A broad oval head with a projecting nose and pointed chin sits at a backward-slanting angle on top of a long neck; the torso consists of narrow shoulders, well modeled breasts, and folded arms carved in relief above a softly rounded abdomen. The pubic area is indicated by a V-shaped groove at the top of the thighs. The legs are defined by deep grooves on the front and back of the figure, but remain joined except at the feet. The calves and thighs are carefully modeled, and the knees flexed. Fingers and toes are not articulated. A vertical incision on the back of the figure represents the spine and a cleft at the top of the legs defines the buttocks.


The Kapsala type, named for an Early Cycladic cemetery on the island of Amorgos, is the earliest stylistic group of the canonical folded-arm figures produced during the Early Cycladic II period. Pat Getz-Gentle attributed this figure to the Kontoleon Master, one of the most prolific of the Kapsala sculptors. Several works associated with this artist come from Naxos.


Alexis Belis and Dorothy Abramitis