The celebrated ladies of Greek prehistory
Carved from marble or modelled in clay, priestesses or goddesses lending their shapely silhouettes to votive offerings and ritual objects, female figures dominate the figurative art and pottery of prehistoric Greece, from the islands of the Aegean all the way to Minoan Crete.
The Snake Goddesses (Heraklion Archaeological Museum)
Perhaps the most famous ladies on the list, the Snake Goddesses (c. 1600 BC) need little introduction. They are among the most iconic symbols of Minoan civilization and exquisite examples of Minoan miniature sculpture, discovered in a repository in the sanctuary of the Palace of Knossos. Although their precise identity remains debatable, the prevailing interpretation points towards Minoan Snake Goddesses or her priestesses. Fashioned from painted faience, one figure has snakes winding around her body and a tall headdress, while the other holds a snake in each hand, with a small feline perched upon her head, hinting at her potential role as a protector of nature.
The two figurines are also some of the finest artistic representations of characteristic Minoan dress, with tightly fitted bodices exposing the breasts and embroidered aprons worn over long, wide skirts with abundant pleats. In one of the two figures, these pleats were ingeniously created from individual pieces of faience overlaid, like roof tiles.
If the Fat Lady of Saliagos (4500–4000 BC) seems to have stepped straight out of Henry Moore’s studio, the clay Goddess of Myrtos (2500–2300 BC) would have felt perfectly at home in Picasso’s workshop.
The Maidens of Kea (Archaeological Museum of Kea)
During the 1960s, fragments of about fifty clay statues – dating from 1550 to 1450 BC – were unearthed in a temple inside the prehistoric settlement of Agia Irini on Kea. Painstakingly reassembled, the best-preserved examples are now displayed in the local archaeological museum, where they immediately command attention. With their full, bare breasts, heavy necklaces, hands resting on their hips, long bell-shaped skirts and, in some cases, long braids, these female figures were once nearly life-sized. Although the colours that originally adorned them have long since faded, the mystery surrounding them remains undiminished. Are they goddesses, priestesses or worshippers caught in an ecstatic dance, forever whirling through time?
The Lady of Phylakopi (Archaeological Museum of Milos)
A masterpiece of Mycenaean coroplastic art, the celebrated Lady of Phylakopi (14th century BC) was created in a Peloponnesian pottery workshop before it journeyed to Milos, where she was used to adorn the Mycenaean sanctuary of the island’s prehistoric settlement. Whether she represents the deity worshipped there or one of the priestesses who served her, this 3,500-year-old clay figure continues to captivate visitors with her boldly rendered facial features, elegant silhouette and richly decorated dress. Despite her diminutive stature (20cm), she remains the undisputed centrepiece of the Archaeological Museum of Milos and one of the most significant testimonies to the Mycenaean presence in the Aegean.
The Goddess of Myrtos (Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos)
If the Fat Lady of Saliagos seems to have stepped straight out of Henry Moore’s studio, the clay Goddess of Myrtos (2500–2300 BC) would have felt equally at home in Picasso’s workshop. With her eccentric proportions – a tiny head, elongated slender neck, diminutive hemispherical breasts and large bell-shaped body festooned with geometric motifs – she bears an uncanny resemblance to a modern work of art. It’s hard to believe she is in fact a ritual vessel until you realize the jug she holds in her hands also serves as the mouth of the container itself. This Minoan deity, believed by archaeologists to be a protector of water, was discovered at the Early Minoan settlement of Myrtos in Lasithi during the 1967/8 excavations.
The Fat Lady of Saliagos (Archaeological Museum of Paros)
If your idea of Cycladic figurines is limited to the ubiquitous slender forms, the Fat Lady of Saliagos shatters every stereotype with her voluptuous proportions, perfectly suited to a fertility goddess. Seated cross-legged like an Eastern noblewoman, she is the mother of all Cycladic figurines, being the earliest marble statuette (4500–4000 BC) ever discovered in the Cyclades. She was unearthed in the Neolithic settlement of Saliagos, discovered in 1961 on the tiny islet of the same name, which once connected Paros to Antiparos.
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