Hellenistic

Terracotta statuette of a "temple boy"

Votive "temple boy" figures are more common in limestone, and small terracotta such as this are relatively rare. Various interpretations have been put on the purpose of the figures, but it seems likely that they were placed in temples to mark a rite of passage in the boy's life and secure for him divine protection. But, whatever the meaning of the figures, it is clear that they represent a Cypriot custom that drives not form the Greek world but form that of the Near East. H. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm)

Classification

Object type: Terracotta figurine
Motif: Human figure
Material: Clay
Period: Hellenistic and RomanHellenistic
Date: 299 - 200 BC
Place of production: probablyCyprus
Findspot: Kourion

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Accession No.

74.51.1607

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

From CyprusSaid to be from the temple of Apollo Hylates at Kourion

References

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 2. pl. XLIV.346, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1895. The Terracottas and Pottery of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in Halls 4 and 15. no. 214, p. 20, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 2293, p. 361, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Robinson, David Moore. 1931. Excavations at Olynthus: The Terra-cottas of Olynthus found in 1928, Vol. 4, D.M. Robinson, ed. p. 78, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 433, p. 269, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Gloria Merker, and Joan R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Terracottas. no. 388, pp. 230-31, 265, Online Publication, [CD-Rom 2004], New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.