Marble female figure

Technical analysis: Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence examination, optical microscopy


The sculpture is carved from white, banded marble. The white bands extend up the sides and across the back of the upper shoulders then converge and cross at the nape of the neck, creating an X-shaped pattern on the back of the head that is the result of the marble’s structure. In transmitted light, the parallel banding is also visible at the buttocks. A small, flat oval area near the top of the proper left side of the face may indicate the former location of a painted eye that is now lost.

The figure is almost completely intact except for a loss at the tip of the toes of the proper left foot and two small painted plaster fills for losses to the proper left upper front corner of the head. Much of the surface of the figure has a yellowish tinge with scattered reddish accretions especially on the front under the proper right elbow and at the outside edge of the proper left lower leg. Minor traces of a darker accretion appear on the upper back and proper right leg. The surface exhibits wear at high points including the nose, buttocks and knees as well as small modern scrapes, revealing the whiteness of the marble, at the front of the proper right upper arm and across the chest on the proper left side.


The figure has a triangular head with angled crown at the top, a rounded chin, and a broad long vertical nose that is the only sculptural feature of the face. The head rests on a tall neck set off from the chest by a curved groove at the front and two short angular grooves at the back that join at the spine. The shoulders have a pronounced slope and the arms are folded over the abdomen, the left above the right. The figure has high, widely spaced small breasts, a slightly bulging belly and a pronounced pubic area defined by three grooves. On the front, a long vertical groove divides the legs which have slightly bent knees and downturned feet below offset by short horizontal grooves. The toes are defined by short vertical grooves. On the back, a long vertical groove defines the spine and continues between the buttocks and the legs, widening at the feet. In profile, the figure is nearly straight and essentially the same width except for the slight bend in the knees, the rounded buttocks and belly and the tapering head and feet.


Seán Hemingway, Dorothy Abramitis, Linda Borsch, and Federico Carò