Artwork Page for Vinca Idol

Details / Information for Vinca Idol

Vinca Idol

4000 BCE

Serbia, Vinça culture, Neolithic Era

Medium
fired clay with paint
Measurements
Overall: 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Bruce Ferrini 2000.202
Public Domain
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Location
106A Migration Period & Coptic
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This figurine depicts a female deity with a protruding belly and plump buttocks.

Description

This statuette, probably a cult idol, dates to the Neolithic Era which saw the development of farming and human technology. It is extraordinarily well preserved and derives from the settlement at Vinca in modern Serbia. This flourishing culture was the largest known in Europe at that time, extending along the Danube into the Balkans and Central Europe. Thousands of clay statuettes have been discovered in the region's Vinca settlements suggestive of the intense magic-religious practices within the Vinca culture. This statuette is anthropomorphic, or human-shaped, and is presumed to have been used for ritual purposes. The use of red paint is typical of Vinca Neolithic figurines, and few have survived in such excellent condition.
A dark brown clay figurine is reminiscent of a person, with a pointed chin and nose and two semicircles as eyes filling most of the face, with small lines like eyelashes around them. Arms extend out to the sides of the body but end just after the shoulder. A shirt with a V-neck incised into the clay covers small breasts, defined hips, and a belly protruding over what could be a skirt completely covering legs and feet.

Vinca Idol

4000 BCE

Serbia, Vinça culture, Neolithic Era

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