Advanced Search 
Woman from a funerary monument
Greek
Late Classical Period
about 330–325 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Marble from Mount Pentelikon near Athens
Dimensions
Height: 201 cm (79 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number98.642
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 070; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 108 (additional published references).
DescriptionThe over life-sized standing woman is carved in very high relief, with traces of the background visible on the figure's left side. As a funerary marker she stands out as one of the most monumental discovered. She wears a chiton underneath the himation that is draped over her head, covers the upper part of her right arm, passes across her torso, and is gathered in her raised left hand. Bearing the weight of her frame on her left leg, she bends and turns her right leg away her body. With her downcast head, the figure gazes to her left. Her hair is roughly carved into parallel rows of wavy locks that are crowned by a braided "tiara."
Condition: Missing her right forearm and hand at the elbow. Large mortise at the elbow of the right hand and square dowel hole visible on the right side of the figure. The nose is a plaster restoration and parts of the right foot and plinth are marble restorations. Lips filed down. Drapery edges smoothed off. Worn surface with pitting in the marble.
Condition: Missing her right forearm and hand at the elbow. Large mortise at the elbow of the right hand and square dowel hole visible on the right side of the figure. The nose is a plaster restoration and parts of the right foot and plinth are marble restorations. Lips filed down. Drapery edges smoothed off. Worn surface with pitting in the marble.
Provenance1883, Alessandro Castellani (b. 1823 – d. 1883), Paris, London, and Naples; March 17-April 10, 1884, posthumous Castellani sale, Castellani Palace, Rome, probably lot 1109, unsold [see note 1]. 1898, sold by Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 – d. 1928), Lewes House, Sussex, to the MFA for $69,618.13 [see note 2]. (Accession Date: September 20, 1898)
NOTES: [1] According to Edward Perry Warren’s records, the sculpture came from Rome and had been in the possession of Castellani. The sculpture matches the description of lot 1109 in the 1884 sale, a 2-meter tall statue of a woman, which is said to have been found in Sorrento. Many thanks to Jörg Deterling for his assistance in locating this record. [2] This is the total price for MFA accession nos. 98.641 – 98.940.
NOTES: [1] According to Edward Perry Warren’s records, the sculpture came from Rome and had been in the possession of Castellani. The sculpture matches the description of lot 1109 in the 1884 sale, a 2-meter tall statue of a woman, which is said to have been found in Sorrento. Many thanks to Jörg Deterling for his assistance in locating this record. [2] This is the total price for MFA accession nos. 98.641 – 98.940.