CMA Exhibition Feature : Painted Figurines

Special Exhibitions

Magna Graecia

Magna Graecia: Greek Art From South Italy and Sicily > About the Exhibition > Taranto > Painted Figurines



*Painted Figurine* (about 250-200 BC) Taranto, Via Tito Livio Terracotta, white slip, mold-made, finished with a stick, painted Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto, inv. 51675 [Cat. no. 22]

Painted Figurines

These exquisitely modeled, vividly painted figurines form part of the funerary assemblage from a young girl's tomb. Such painted terracotta statuettes, deposited as grave gifts for the deceased, reflect the social status of the family. Figurines associated with children's burials are often interpreted as toys. However, similar terracottas found as votive offerings in other contexts suggest that such gifts were connected to cults which provided divine protection for the young. In burials of young girls, the figurines are almost all female, whereas male burials contain statuettes of erotes and children.

Draped female figures of this funerary ensemble are characterized by such attributes as the ivy crown [cat. nos. 22-23], bunches of grapes [cat. no. 22], the tympanon (drum) [cat. no. 23], and the phiale (offering bowl) [cat. nos. 24 and 26].

These objects suggest the realm of Dionysos, god of wine, so the women holding them may be Maenads (female followers of the god) and associated with cults of female divinities and marriage. The dove sitting at the base of cat. no. 23 is a bird which holds a special significance for the goddess of love, Aphrodite.

The draped terracotta figurine [cat. no. 25] holds a large, leaf-shaped fan.



*Painted Figurine* (about 250-200 BC) Taranto, Via Tito Livio Terracotta, white slip, mold-made, finished with a stick, painted Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto, inv. 51676 [Cat. no. 23]



*Painted Figurine* (about 250-200 BC) Taranto, Via Tito Livio Terracotta, brown and beige clay, white slip, mold-made, finished with a stick, painted Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto, inv. 51677 [Cat. no. 24]



*Painted Figurine* (about 250-200 BC) Taranto, Via Tito Livio Terracotta, brown and beige clay, white slip, mold-made, finished with a stick, painted Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto, inv. 51678 [Cat. no. 25]



*Painted Figurine* (about 250-200 BC) Taranto, Via Tito Livio Terracotta, brown clay, white slip, mold-made, finished with a stick, painted Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto, inv. 51679 [Cat. no. 26]

Page 7 of 7 | On the next page: Antefixes