Marble female figure

Technical analysis: Multiband imaging, optical microscopy, X-ray radiography This fine-grained white marble figure is missing the head, neck and the front of the feet. Horizontal breaks at the waist and knees are mended, reinforced with metal pins, and filled in. There is also a modern drilled hole, now filled, at the top near the center of the neck area. The figure has broad, narrow angular shoulders projecting beyond the torso with arms in low relief. The arched left forearm is folded over the right below conical breasts in high relief and above a long and narrow abdomen. The fingers are not indicated. A shallow incised groove indicates the pubic triangle. Deeply incised vertical grooves delineate the joined legs at the front and back. A vertical shallow groove indicates the spine at the center of the concave back. The buttocks are angular. The back of the legs are concave without a bend at the knees.


The surface is covered with a thin layer of accretions, remaining primarily in the interstices. There is pitting throughout, although somewhat more on the left side of the figure. There are scattered red, blue, and black particles on the buttocks, however there are also red and blue particles in what appears to be the remains of modern paint adjacent to the neck. There is no evidence for ancient pigment or paint ghosts.


Georgios Gavalas, Sandy MacGillivray, Dorothy Abramitis, and Elizabeth Hendrix