1978.510: Nude Female Votive Statuette

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This nude female statuette was possibly a votive related to fertility. Her head is bare, and there is no indication of hair, although a raised ridge from ear to ear long the top back of the head is somewhat reminiscent of the low curved headdresses of other female statuettes. Her ears are slight prominences on each side of the head. Her facial features are large and abstract, particularly her eyes and nose. Her large, round head is turned slightly upward. Her neck is round and naturally proportioned. She stands with her left arm bent under her left breast and the left hand apparently holding her right breast (1). Her right arm is pressed against her torso with the right hand apparently resting on her stomach. The hands are not clearly articulated at the ends of the arms. Her breasts are large and almost spherical, while her arms are disproportionately short and stylized. Her stomach is rounded and protruding, and her hips are wide and the legs are well spaced from each other. The figure may have originally stood with feet well separated and planted flat, like 1933.138, but now the right leg is bent inward from the knee, causing the feet to touch. The legs are more naturalistically modeled than the arms; there is a clear distinction between the upper and lower legs as well as the feet. No toes are indicated. The back of the figure is featureless, raised only at the back of the head and the buttocks.

Thousands of small, anthropomorphic copper alloy statuettes and anatomical votives have been recovered from remote sanctuary sites in south-central Spain, particularly Collado de los Jardines and Castellar de Santisteban, but it is not certain to which god or gods they were dedicated (2). Many of the statuettes depict individuals, some of whom are represented in poses of prayer or offering (3). Some are very abstract and schematically rendered, while others wear identifiable contemporary clothing (4). In spite of the similarity of the votives, there is nothing to indicate that the intention behind each offering was the same.

NOTES:
1. For another nude female statuette with arms held across the body, see R. Lantier, Bronzes votifs ibériques (Paris, 1935) no. 211, pl. 15. Other nude female statuettes are shown, although not with the same gesture and stance, in L. Prados Torreira, Exvotos ibericos de bronce del Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid, 1992) 217, nos. 547-48. Although not nude, some female statuettes make this gesture clearly; see ibid., 221, nos. 589-93.

2. See F. Álvarez-Ossorio, Bronces ibéricos o hispánicos del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid, 1935) 20-27; id., Catálogo de los exvotos de bronce ibéricos (Madrid, 1941); L. Prados Torreira, “Los exvotos anatomicos del santuario iberico de Collado de los Jardines (Sta. Elena, Jaén),” Trabajos de prehistoria 48 (1991): 313-32; ead. 1992 (supra 1); ead., “Los santuarios ibéricos: Apuntes para el desarrollo de una arqueología del culto,” Trabajos de prehistoria 51.1 (1994): 127-40; and G. Nicolini et al., El santuario ibérico de Castellar, Jaén: Intervenciones arqueológicas 1966-1991 (Seville, 2004) 160-64.

3. For discussions of the statuettes’ poses and gestures, see G. Nicolini, “Gestes et attitudes cultuels des figurines de bronze ibériques,” Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez 4 (1968): 27-50; and C. Rueda Galán, “La mujer sacralizada: La presencia de las mujeres en los santuarios (lectura desde los exvotos de bronce iberos),” Complutum 18 (2007): 227-35.

4. See, for example, 1933.134.

Lisa M. Anderson