On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Marble female figure
Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, X-ray radiography, optical microscopy
The figure is carved out of fine-grained (maximum grain size ≈ 1 mm) heteroblastic white marble. Although it appears complete and intact, there is a repair at the base of the neck, damage to the proper left shoulder, torso, and proper right arm. The edges of the carved details are slightly rounded, and the surface has been mechanically cleaned and retouched. A buff-colored accretion over much of the surface is heaviest along the proper right side on the back and the neck, but appears to have been removed on the front of the figure. Scattered red and blue particles appear to be modern.
The long, narrow, and very thin plank-like figure has a more three-dimensional, shield-shaped head with a long narrow nose in relief. The head sits slightly askew on the neck, which appears short and thick from the front and back, but thin and more elongated in profile. Although the angular shoulders slope slightly, the torso is essentially a tall slab punctuated near the top by small wide-spaced breasts in relief. Grooves define the long slender upper arms and forearms, which are arranged right above left. The pubic triangle, incised with little relationship to the lower abdomen or tops of the thighs, is pierced by a straight vertical line indicating the vulva. A deep groove on the front and back distinguishes the legs. Toes are articulated on the feet. The leg-cleft on the back also separates the slightly projecting buttocks, and there is no vertical line marking the spine.
Although no ancient pigment remains, there may be a very faint paint eye ghost of the proper right eye half-way down the nose.(1)
The figure is unusually long and attenuated for a Chalandriani type. Also unusual are the rendering of the vulva in the pubic triangle, and the position of the forearms, folded right-over-left instead of the canonical left-over-right.
Alexis Belis, Dorothy Abramitis, and Federico Carò
(1) Noted by Elizabeth Hendrix in an examination in 2023.
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