Statue of a Kore (The Elgin Kore)

Known as the Elgin Kore, this sculpture was once in the collection of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766-1841), who served as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The kore (young woman) stands with her weight on her left leg and her right leg forward. She wears a garment called a peplos, a rectangular piece of heavy cloth folded over at the top, pinned at the shoulders, and usually worn belted. Even in the statue's damaged state, the garment is identifiable by the overfold above the figure's waist. Little of the figure’s anatomy is actually visible, except for the contour of her right thigh, which is revealed as she pulls the fabric of her peplos to the side. In addition, the upper part of her bare upper arms is preserved in side views. This gesture is typical of the kore statue type, in which one hand was usually extended with an offering to the gods while the other grasped the fabric of the dress below the waist.

Korai were used both as funerary monuments and as religious dedications in Greek sanctuaries. Drapery was standard for depictions of women in the 5th century B.C., whereas male youths (kouroi) were often shown nude. The sculptors of these female statues were interested in capturing the interplay of the patterns of the garments' folds and the movement of the body underneath. This kore is probably the work of an Attic workshop, even though its grey marble is not Attic in origin. The stretched neckline and the drapery patterns of stacked folds on either side of the overfall, along with the vertical folds of the skirt, are characteristics of Attic workmanship. The edge of the overfold, which is nearly parallel to the belted waistline, is a feature of peploi dated to about 475 B.C.