The Cleveland Museum of Art (spacer)
Special Exhibitions 		(spacer) (separator) (spacer) (spacer)
Magna Graecia 		(spacer)
(spacer)
  Magna Graecia: Greek Art From South Italy and Sicily > About the Exhibition > Gela > Female Votive Mask (about 510-500 BC)
 
 
Female Votive Mask (about 510-500 BC)
Gela, Predio Sola, sanctuary
Terracotta, refined pinkish-beige clay, thin yellowish slip, mold-made, finished with a stick
Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. 7369
[Cat. no. 59]

Female Votive Mask (about 510-500 BC)

Dedicated at a sanctuary outside of ancient Gela, this large terracotta mask is hollow at the back. It displays the plump features of a smiling woman wearing a veil surmounted by a particular type of crown (stephane). The double necklace of pendants, shaped like bulls' heads (bucranea), suggests the figure's high status. Her protruding ears are pierced with earrings.

The woman's expression, known as the "archaic smile," was a 6th-century BC convention of the 6th century BC. The mask was a votive dedication to a divinity.


Page 5 of 9 | On the next page: Horse-Shaped Spoon (about 580-570 BC)