Votive Head of a Woman

Place of OriginItaly, attributed to Veii

Dateabout 450-430 BCE

DimensionsHead: 9 5/16 × 7 5/16 × 7 5/8 in. (23.6 × 18.5 × 19.4 cm)
w/base: 14 3/16 in. (36 cm)
Mount: 4 1/2 × 5 9/16 × 5 9/16 in. (11.5 × 14.1 × 14.1 cm)

MediumMold-pressed terracotta

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of the Anderton Bentley Foundation, the Clarence Brown Fund, the Dana Art Fund, the Michael J. Davies Memorial Fund, the Godwin Art Fund, Dr. and Mrs. Charles Klippel, and the Museum Art Fund

Object number

1986.101

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThis is a life-size terracotta head of a woman, broken diagonally below the chin through the nape of the neck. The head is mold-pressed earthenware, formed by pressing damp clay into piece molds. The subject has an idealized, serene face with large eyes and full lips. The hair is parted at the center and arranged in vertical, curving locks that terminate in tight curls, framing the face from the forehead to the earlobes. The hair at the back is secured in a bun just over the neck. A convex diadem, or stephanos, is placed above the hairline, extending across the front of the head and ending just behind each ear. After being removed from the mold, the surface was meticulously reworked with a tool to sharpen details in the hair, ears, eyesockets, and lips, giving the piece a crispness and refinement not seen in other known examples from the same mold.

Label TextThis serene, life-size head was created as a votive offering, a precious gift intended for a god or goddess in a sacred temple. Made by a skillful Etruscan artist, it was formed by pressing clay into a mold. After it was removed, the artist carefully hand-carved the fine details of the curling hair, diadem, and tranquil facial features. This head was almost certainly made at Veii, a major Etruscan city in central Italy. In fact, other heads made from the very same mold have been excavated from the ruins of Veii's sanctuaries at Portonaccio and Campetti. While its precise identity is unknown, the noble expression and diadem, or crown, suggest this head represents a priestess, a goddess, or perhaps an idealized portrait of the woman who dedicated it.Published References"La chronique des arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 111, no. 1430, March, 1988, repr. p. 26, p. 67.

"Etruscan clay acquisitions," Ceramics, vol. 36, no. 5, May 1988, p. 31, repr.

Comparative ReferencesCf. Colonna, Giovanni. “Gli scavi Santangelo nell'aurea urbana di Veio (1948-1952).” Archeologia Classica 65 (2014): 59–102. Cf. Santuari d'Eturia, cura di Giovanni Colonna, Milan, 1985, pp. 105-106, nos. 3, 4.