Cypriot Mother Goddess

Cypriot limestone female figurine. Chalcolithic period. 3900-2500 BC. H.: 27 cm / Th.: 5.5 cm / W.: 7.5 cm.From Cyprus, Kidasi (Paphos region).... more

by Andonis Katanos

Title

Cypriot Mother Goddess

Artist

Andonis Katanos

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Cypriot limestone female figurine. Chalcolithic period. 3900-2500 BC. H.: 27 cm / Th.: 5.5 cm / W.: 7.5 cm.From Cyprus, Kidasi (Paphos region). Figurine modelling flourished in Cyprus in the Late Neolithic period and even more so during the Chalcolithic period. Various types of figurines, in materials such as steatite, limestone, picrolite and clay, represent the human figure in a purely schematic or a more naturalistic manner. This figurine of soft limestone is dubbed the "Zintilis idol" (after the collector) and belongs to a group of Chalcolithic stone figurines, characteristics of which include a slight backwards tilt of the head, deep eye sockets (perhaps originally inset with stone or shell), relief breasts, arms bent below the bosom and superficial incisions indicating the pubes and separating the legs. The figurine was found in the village of Kidasi, in the Paphos region, but its archaeological context did not permit its unequivocal association with cult activities. Nevertheless, the prevailing view is that nude female figurines of this type, with pronounced anatomical details (breasts, pudenda), were most probably associated with beliefs about birth and maternity, or with rites dedicated to the great "Mother Goddess" in her role as a fertility deity. Museum of Cycladic Art. Athens

Uploaded

April 25th, 2015