Marble torso of a figure

Technical analysis: Ultraviolet-induced visible luminescence examination, optical microscopy

This exquisite fragment preserves the abdomen and thighs of a large female figure. It is broken at the middle of the abdomen and just above the knees. The surface is very well preserved with accretions in the grooves and on the back. The white marble has a banded structure enhanced by differential weathering. The pubic area is defined by the rounded contours of the upper thighs and the curvature of the lower belly. The pubic area may originally have been painted to further define it. Traces of two fingers from the right hand grasping the left side indicate that the figure belongs to the canonical folded arm type with the left arm above the right. The back is very straight with a vertical incised line defining the spine. The full rounded thighs are divided in the front and back by deep vertical grooves. The buttocks are flatly modeled compared to the thighs. The fragment belongs to an unusually large figure, which Getz-Gentle estimates was more than a meter long.

Seán Hemingway, Wendy Walker, Federico Carò