Kore from the Acropolis

When the Persians invaded Athens in 480 and 479 BCE, the Acropolis was set on fire and all the sculptures on it flattened. This female figure is one of those that reappeared when excavated, virtually where they fell, in the late nineteenth century.

In an act of dedication to the gods the figure holds an offering in her left hand, maybe a fruit. The marble from which the sculpture was made is from the island of Naxos, two hundred kilometres east of Athens. The oval shape of her head and the parallel folds of the clothing she wears are also in the eastern Greek island style

Number

Material

Naxian marble

Location of Original

Athens Acropolis Museum 677

Size

0.55m

References

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 44 (n.2)
Payne & Young: Archaic Marble Sculpture from the Acropolis, 12
Buschor, E: Altsamische Standbilder, 24-
Stewart: Greek Sculpture, 119, pls. 114-6
Karakasi: Archaic Korai (2003), 115

Date

570-560 BCE

Provenance

Acropolis Athens

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