Terracotta statuette of a seated woman

Unknown

late 6th–early 5th century BCE · Terracotta · Greek and Roman Art

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.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 6th–early 5th century BCE

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek, probably Boeotian

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of Louise Crane, in memory of her mother, Mrs. W. Murray Crane, 1980