Statue of a Mourning Woman

300–275 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta with white slip and polychromy (organic pink, iron-based red pigment, white pigment)

Dimensions

95.5 × 32.1 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-220491

The standing female figure stands with her weight on her left leg and raises her hands, clearly defined with fingernails, in a gesture of lamentation. The tilted head features a lean, oval face with high forehead, furrowed eyebrows, eyes with etched pupils and irises, an accentuated nose, and a sharp chin. The mouth is stretched in an expression of sadness. The figure wears a chiton with vertical pink stripes on the proper right side and back and front of the chiton, and a himation with a fringed border worn as a shawl draped over the bust. This type of costume is also found on figures painted on Apulian vases. There are two marks incised on the himation: two parallel lines on the proper left, and a mark, possibly a lambda, on the proper right. There is a circular hole on the lower edge of the chiton in the figure’s back. The position and weight of the figure are similar to those of three other members of this group (85.AD.76.1-3).