Cleveland Museum of Art

Female Worshiper

Date

c. 1600–1500 BCE

Medium

bronze

Culture

Crete, Minoan, middle Minoan III–late Minoan I

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This extremely rare Minoan bronze statuette represents a girl worshiping a deity. It was probably left as a dedication to a divinity. She wears a flounced skirt over a sleeved robe open at the front. The figure shows a remarkable degree of detail, including looped earrings, bracelets, and a necklace. Her shaved hairstyle, not found on any other Minoan bronze statuette, matches that of painted figures in roughly contemporary frescoes uncovered on the island of Thera, north of Crete. Its excellent condition, rarity, fine detail, and balanced proportions set it apart from other statuettes of its type to have survived. The shaved head with prominent locks of hair indicates that this female votive figure is an adolescent.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.