Head of terracotta maenad from Olympia
- Title:
- Head of terracotta maenad from Olympia
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Gipsformerei (German repository, Berlin, contemporary) (reproduction)
Unknown (original)
- Photographer:
- Mericle, Danielle
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 525-510 BCE
2009 (image)
- Site:
- Berlin, Germany (reproduction)
Olympia, Greece (discovery site, House of Nero) (original) - Location:
- Goldwin Smith Hall basement (Room G 48, Dendro Lab), Cornell University
Berlin, Germany (reproduction)
Olympia, Greece (discovery site, House of Nero) (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0651
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 51
1911 (incised in back
Gipsformerei number)
51 (sticker on front of pedestal)
643 - File Name:
- CCC_0651.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 14 (H) cm
- Culture:
- Greek
- Style/Period:
- Archaic, Corinthian
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
painted terracotta sculpture in the round (original) - Subject:
- Bacchantes
- Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 14.5 x 10.5 x 10.8 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a cast of the damaged head of a painted terracotta maenad from a sculptural group with Silenos and other figures discovered at Olympia and housed in the museum there. The figure looks straight ahead with bulging, sesame seed-shaped eyes with the irises indicated in light paint. Her face is squared and she has a short, small nose that is damaged at the tip, full lips that curl up slightly to form the characteristic archaic smile, and a broad and prominent chin. Her wavy hair is patterned and doughy. She wears a polos, much of which has been broken away in the original. The original is broken at the neck with much of the hair missing from the figure's right side. In the original, details are picked out in dark red or black paint, such as the eyebrows, parts of the eyes, the hair, and the lotus and palmette decoration on the headdress. Most of the painted detail of the original does not appear on this cast, with the exception of the irises and some decoration on the headdress. The cast has been painted a variegated orange to appear as terracotta.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 168 or no inventory number - Bibliography:
- Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Katalog der Originalabgüsse, Heft 4, Griechenland und Rom: Freiplastik, pl. 50, no. 1911
Aliki Moustaka, Grossplastik aus Ton in Olympia. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Olympische Forschungen, Band XXII (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1993), 51-52, no. D 1, pl. 40 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
Olympia, Archaeological Museum (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.