The “Heyl Aphrodite,” an exquisite beauty

This depiction of Aphrodite is characterised by a rare sensuality. Her gown is draped low, just covering the right breast while the fineness of the fabric reveals more of the abdomen than it conceals. The hair is fastened at the back of the head and crowned with a diadem. The goddess has also been adorned with large earrings. The attitude of the deity’s posture is difficult to interpret as her attributes have been lost. The turn of the head away from the object in her hands suggests there may have been a complementary figure standing there, such as a small cupid. The raised left leg indicates that it once stood on a plinth or a larger structure like a column. The front of the statue was formed in a mould and then retouched; the rear has been fairly neglected in comparison. The wrinkles of skin on the neck have been sharply drawn; pupils were indicated in the eyes by small hollows. A large, oval hole in the back of the statuette near the waist used for the firing process tells us more about how it was made. The statue probably stems from Myrina in Asia Minor, a town that like Tanagra was famous for its terracotta. Its heyday came a little later though and it is from here that we have examples of clay figurines from the late Hellenistic period in the second century BCE.