Marble female figure

Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, UV imaging, low power magnification using a binocular microscopeoptical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy


This is the first ancient Cycladic sculpture acquired by Leonard Stern.(1) The figure is complete except for an old shallow loss to the upper forehead and the toes of the proper right foot, which have been restored in modern times. The lower proper left leg was broken at the knee and between the feet and has been reattached. Most of the front of the figure is encrusted with beige to brown accretions. The back of the figure is less encrusted; the white color of the very fine- grained marble (maximum grain size ≈ 0.5 mm)as well as its original polished surface is clearly visible in places. The location of the accretions makes it likely that the sculpture was deposited in a tomb face down. The large head with prominent nose and round chin rises from her thick neck. The upper body exhibits rounded shoulders and slightly asymmetrical breasts with the arms folded across the stomach left above right in typical fashion. The fingers, especially of the left hand, are demarcated with shallow incisions. The triangular pubic area is defined by the line of the full lower belly and the upper thighs. The legs are bent slightly at the knee and the feet are unusually short, which is particularly apparent in the profile view.

The human form is carefully conceived and exhibits the classic proportions characteristic of canonical Cycladic figures, which is four to one, total length to shoulder width except for the feet. Pat Getz-Gentle has plausibly suggested that the feet were damaged not long after the initial carving and re-carved in antiquity giving them a stubby appearance, although still extended indicating that the figure was originally meant to recline. (2) The burial accretions cover much of the feet supporting the theory that the re-carving was done in antiquity. Ancient repairs can be observed on a number of Cycladic figures. (3)

Seán Hemingway, Dorothy Abramitis, Federico Carò



(1) In September, 2022, this sculpture has been linked in a newspaper article to two photographs from the photographic archive seized by the Italian police authorities at the premises of the convicted art dealer Gianfranco Becchina. See "Συλλογή Στερν και Αρχαιοκαπηλία." Athens Voice, September 30, 2022: https://www.athensvoice.gr/politismos/773005/sullogi-stern-kai-arhaiokapilia/ .

(2) See Pat Getz-Gentle, Personal Styles in Early Cycladic Sculpture (University of Wisconsin Press 2001), pp. 143, 144, fig. 22, p. 175, pl. 32.



(3) See Pat Getz-Preziosi, "Risk and Repair in Early Cycladic Sculpture," MMAJ 16 (1981), pp. 19, 23, figs. 52-3, 56-7. See also Museum of Cycladic Art: Highlights (Athens 2023), pp.62-63, no. 26 for another EC II female figure whose lower legs were broken and the feet recarved.