Getty Museum

Grave Naiskos of a Young Woman

Date

about 360 B.C.

Medium

Marble

Culture

Greek (Attic)

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

Dolls and birds were the playthings of girls, and both are shown on this grave marker that commemorates a girl on the threshold of adulthood. She holds what appears to be a limbless figurine, her right hand gently covering its head. Her gaze forms a line from the doll to the goose looking back at her. In ancient Greece, girls offered their dolls to a divinity when they reached puberty. This was a sign that they were past childhood and ready to assume the responsibilities of a wife. The slight swelling of the girl's breasts indicates that she was old enough for marriage.

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