Detail of a Terracotta Statuette of a Goddess in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2017

Terracotta statuette of a goddess

Date:mid to late 2nd century B.C.

Culture:Greek

Medium:Terracotta

Dimensions:24 13/16 in. (63 cm)

Classification:Terracottas

Credit Line:Gift of Thomas Colville, 2016

Accession Number:2016.496.1

This large statuette belongs to a class of statuettes produced to imitate or echo monumental sculptures in bronze or marble. The large scale, baroque style, and quality of execution point to a major coroplastic workshop in Asia Minor, possibly Myrina. The figure most likely represents a deity because of her polos headdress. It has been suggested that she is Tyche, the personification of fortune, who enjoyed widespread popularity in Hellenistic and Roman times. In terms of iconography, however, the pose and arrangement of drapery are more akin to representations of Aphrodite, while this type of polos, characteristic of Persephone, is very different from the mural crowns typically worn by Tyche.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/659501