• Marble male figurine



Marble male figurine
Marble male figurine

Marble male figurine

Λ2623
Stone (Marble)
Missing the neck, head and left leg.
Height: 9.2 cm. Maximum width: 4.2 cm. Maximum thickness: 2.8 cm.
Knossos
Neolithic settlement under the Minoan palace
Stone Age. Early Neolithic period:
6500 - 5800 BC:
Gallery:
I
Case:
4
Exhibition thematic unit:
Stone Age (7000-3000 BC). The first communities
Figurines. Small images of the Neolithic world
Description
Unique marble figurine of a naked standing male figure with arms bent in front of its chest. The head and left leg are missing, while the palms and the sole of the preserved right foot are not rendered. The anatomical details on the rear side indicate that the left leg was probably extended forwards. The figurine stands out for the plasticity of the volumes of the body and its more general naturalistic rendering, extremely rare features in figurines of this period. It is also set apart by the fine marble of which it is made, a material rarely used in contemporary examples. Finally, the depiction of a male figure is unusual among the stone human figurines of the Early Neolithic period, most of which represent female figures.
Bibliography:
Evans, J.D. "Excavations in the Neolithic Settlement at Knossos, 1957-1960, Part I." Annual of the British School at Athens 59 (1964): 132-240. Kanta, A. and M. Kokosali. "Marble Figurines in Crete: the Beginnings." In Ν. Chr. Stampolidis and P. Sotirakopoulou (eds), Κυκλαδικά στην Κρήτη. Κυκλαδικά και Κυκλαδίζοντα Ειδώλια - Οι συμβολισμοί της ανθρώπινης μορφής μέσα στην ανασκαφική τους συνάφεια. Πρακτικά Διεθνούς Συνεδρίου, Μουσείο Κυκλαδικής Τέχνης, Athens, 1-2 Οκτωβρίου 2015, Athens, 2017, 65-106. Ucko, P. Anthropomorphic Figurines of Predynastic Egypt and Neolithic with Comparative Material from the Prehistoric Near East and Mainland Greece. London, 1968, 258, fig. 85:15.
Author:
E. S.


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