Head of a Woman

350–300 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta with white slip and polychromy (pink, red, dark pink, white, purple)

Dimensions

28.8 × 19.1 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-226260

Female head wearing a polos, which is decorated on the upper edge with small protruding nodes. The figure's thick wavy hair is divided symmetrically into two masses and pulled back; on top, the hair is held by a knotted ribbon whose ends fall in the middle of the parting. The hairstyle leaves the earlobes uncovered; they are perforated for the insertion of metal earrings. The front section of the bust was made with a mold, and the details of the facial features were defined with a potter’s rib. The back section is not modeled and has a slightly convex wall, with a large oval vent hole in the center of the occiput. Traces of polychromy show that the bust was originally brightly colored. The lower border of the polos is decorated with oblique lines that are painted purple and white; in the central section, though the pigment is almost entirely worn away, there are traces of a dark pink band with a central rosette. This type of female bust is found widely in the major centers of Sicily, especially in the southeastern area between the fifth and third centuries BC. It is generally associated with Demeter and Kore-Persephone, the tutelary deities of the island.