Terracotta statuette of a goddess
This large statuette belongs to a class of statuettes produced to imitate or echo monumental sculptures in bronze or marble. The large scale, baroque style, and quality of execution point to a major coroplastic workshop in Asia Minor, possibly Myrina. The figure most likely represents a deity because of her polos headdress. It has been suggested that she is Tyche, the personification of fortune, who enjoyed widespread popularity in Hellenistic and Roman times. In terms of iconography, however, the pose and arrangement of drapery are more akin to representations of Aphrodite, while this type of polos, characteristic of Persephone, is very different from the mural crowns typically worn by Tyche.
Artwork Details
- Title: Terracotta statuette of a goddess
- Date: mid to late 2nd century BCE
- Culture: Greek
- Medium: Terracotta
- Dimensions: 24 13/16 in. (63 cm)
- Classification: Terracottas
- Credit Line: Gift of Thomas Colville, 2016
- Object Number: 2016.496.1
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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