Parthenon Frieze

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Wendy Artin's Watercolor Paintings of Ancient Sculptures

Aphrodite » Crouching Aphrodite

Crouching Aphrodite, KM 15052 Terracotta Second half of 2nd century BC–early 1st century AD Seleucia on the Tigris (Iraq) H. 0.071 m, W. 0.055 m University of Michigan Excavations at Seleucia 1935

Description

Figurine of crouching nude female. Broken above waist, on left side, at bottom, and at rear. Modern inventory marks from Seleucia excavations drawn in red on legs. Light pink medium-coarse fabric, micaceous with rare voids, pink slip. Hollow cast in two-part mold. Nude female shown in right profile, with bent knees in relief, on plain plinth. Faint inverted V-shaped depression on each ankle (jewelry?).

Commentary

Forty-four terracotta figurines from Seleucia are identified as images of Aphrodite (Menegazzi). Many of these show Aphrodite in conventional poses, including that of Aphrodite Anadyomene (this example may be a crouching Anadyomene, like the statuette from Rhodes.

Previously Published

W. Van Ingen, Figurines from Seleucia on the Tigris (Ann Arbor 1939) 76, no. 96; R. Menegazzi, Seleucia al Tigri: Le terrecotte figurate dagli scavi italiani e americani (Florence 2015) no. 1.G6.