Hellenistic
Limestone statuette of a temple girl
Temple girls are a rare variation on the temple boy sculptural type. They are distinguished by their longer hair, which contrasts with the shorter curls worn by their male counterparts. This girl, too, is not adorned with chains of apotropaic pendants and amulets, as many of the temple boys are. She is shown wearing soft shoes and holding a bird in her right hand and probably a piece of fruit in her left. WebPub GR 2012 Cesnola: 10 7/8 × 10 1/4 × 5 in., 14.5 lb. (27.6 × 26 × 12.7 cm, 6.6 kg)
Date
300 BC - 100 AD
Accession No.
74.51.2766
Collection
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Provenance
- From Cyprus“Found in the ruins of a temple at Curium”
References
- Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. CXXXI.976, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1222, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Beer, Cecilia. 1994. Temple-Boys: A Study of Cypriote Votive Sculpture, Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, Vol. 113. pp. 55-62, 83, Jonsered: Paul Aströms Förlag.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 425, p. 262, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 274, p. 212, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.