Statuette of Nike

500–475 B.C.

Medium

Terracotta

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-241489

The figure of Nike serves as the stand of an incense burner (thymiaterion).The left leg is extended forward and the right arm is raised, with the palm of the hand, which has notably elongated fingers, turned toward the viewer. The left arm, which is slightly bent, extends down parallel to the body; the left hand gathers the paryphe (woven border) of the chiton. The figure’s long, clinging chiton has sleeves fastened at the elbow with circular clasps; it ruffles across the torso in small, delicate folds. Above the chiton, crosswise, lies a red himation, which falls between the breasts and drapes down the right side in a long strip; part of it is now lost. A good portion of the drapery covers the right half of the torso and, owing to the raised arm, falls in a curve; a strip of dark blue adorns the hem of the chiton and runs sideways across the torso. The folds of the chiton, in the lower half of the body, are indicated by means of fine radial incisions that converge toward the clutching hand. Nike's hairstyle consists of four rows of small globular curls, arranged in an arc across the forehead (a fine clay border sticks out from the first row of ringlets); they fall on either s…