Index Magazine

Art Talk: Girls Will Be Girls

October 27, 2020
Index Magazine

Art Talk: Girls Will Be Girls

This image shows two side-by-side photographs: the smaller one on the left shows a mottled clay doll figurine in profile, with the head facing left, in the hand of someone wearing a rubber glove. The image on the right is a close-up of a marble sculpture of a little girl’s face and shoulder. She is smiling and looking at the head of a tiny doll figurine just to the right of her. The figures both emerge from a marble surface.

As a field archaeologist, Frances Gallart Marqués is used to touching art and antiquities in the field. Take a closer look with Gallart Marqués as she deconstructs the marble Greek stele of the young girl “Melisto” and explores a companion work, which was meant to be touched in the time it was made. Through touch, Gallart Marqués ascertains important details about the small Greek terracotta sculpture in our collections titled “Doll”—something that could not have been done though sight alone. 

The video is also available in Spanish. 

This video is part of our Art Talk series, in which our team of curators, conservators, fellows, and graduate students will share short, informal videos that offer an up-close look at works from our collections.  

Led by:
Frances Gallart Marqués, Frederick Randolph Grace Curatorial Fellow in Ancient Art, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art

Works Explored:
Grave stele of a young girl, “Melisto,” Greek, c. 340 BCE. Marble. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing and Gifts for Special Uses Funds in memory of Katherine Brewster Taylor, as a tribute to her many years at the Fogg Museum, 1961.86.

“Doll” with truncated limbs, Greek, c. 450 BCE. Terracotta. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Frederick M. Watkins, 1959.192.

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Visitor Guide

Welcome to the Harvard Art Museums! We are three museums—the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler—all in one building. Have fun exploring our galleries; just ask any staff member for help finding your way.