Dancing maidens decorate a column

In its early phases, large-scale Greek sculpture in stone appeared primarily in three contexts: in sanctuaries, as votive offerings; at graves; and in architectural programs. This last is the most likely for the two women depicted here in relief (one of whom is preserved only down to the neck) in view of a section of a vertical ridge visible on the extreme edge of the broken left side. A similar ridge can be seen to the right of the left-hand woman’s head. These ridges indicate that this relief used to be part of a column drum. Smiling Archaic maidens stood in front of the fluting on the column, each maiden completely covering one of the ridges separating the 10-cm flutes. The women wear close-fiting garments and fine veils rolled into two thick bands on their heads, attire for a festival. Two locks of hair are modelled into curls in front of the ears. A cloth band falls from beneath the veil onto the shoulders, its original red paint still partially preserved; another such can be seen just below the neck creases of the woman on the better-preserved piece.
To judge from their costume, the women must have served the cult of Apollo in Didyma. The famous oracular temple there presumably included these columns in its porch until, in 494 BC, the Persians burned down the temple and the neighbouring Ionian city of Miletus in retribution for a rebellion.
These marble fragments exemplify Milesian art of the late Archaic period in their wide, unbroken surfaces and softly-defined edges. Several more fragments of female figures were found at the southwest corner of the temple, which was magnificently restored after the Persian destruction. The two figures on display in the Antikensammlung may have come from the same column drum, out of the eight such figures that encircled a single column. The size of the columns themselves can be extrapolated from the flutes: an impressive 104.7 cm in diameter and over 15 m high (cf. reconstruction drawing). The marble above the heads of the figures was not smoothly finished. The column drum atop it was likely made of another type of stone.
The carving of the figures is extraordinarily fine. Precise, even chisel marks are still visible in numerous places. The heads follow a consistent pattern; the sculptor selected only a very few details by which to differentiate them. The similarity of the figures standing all in a row, their uniform costume, and their friendly smiles invite the viewer to reflect on the social standing of these women and their place at the temple entrance.