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particularly harmonious.
S.L., M.F.
8
feMale geoMetric figure
Sardinia, Porto Ferro (Sassari),
domus
de janas
necropolis
Early Chalcolithic (IV millennium BC)
Marble, H. 30 cm, W. 11.5 cm
Polo Museale della Sardegna – Museo
Archeologico Nazionale, Cagliari,
inv. 62474
This marble statuette from Porto Ferro
was found in the Porto Ferro
domus
de janas
tombs near Alghero and is
generically attributed to the passage
through sub-Ozieri and Filigosa facies,
that is, the transition into the first
Copper Age. Four other figurines
associated with this one were found
in the same funerary context. Like
the Senorbì example, this statuette is
considered to be one of the highest
quality works in the repertoire of
Sardinian female statuettes and an
exemplary model of the perforated
plaque typology (the crack at the base
of the neck does not compromise its
integrity).
Some scholars consider this to be
a variant of the cruciform type; in
fact, however, although the Porto
Ferro figurine has a rigid and
schematic iconic structure similar
to that of the cfr. Senorbì model, it
differs in its specific physiognomy,
including the general proportions,
formal solutions, and some details.
Within the repertoire of perforated
plaques, this Porto Ferro example
is best associated with statuettes
which differ in their lower extremities
(triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular
or scoop-shaped). The use of a thin
stone plaque ensures the verticality
of the Porto Ferro figurine, which
is accentuated by the thin neck,
the vertical strips of the arms and
the narrowing above the hips,
uninterrupted in the lateral view
by three slight projections (nose,
breasts and buttocks). The figure has
a tripartite anatomical structure –
the short tapered basal appendage
tapered including the hips, the torso
with the arms, and the upward-
thrusting head.
The expedient of the fretwork in the
central portion of the torso, originally a
quadrangular shape as in the Senorbì
statuette, makes it possible to develop
the arms, which, bent at right angles,
frame and direct attention to the thin
triangular torso. The two small conical
breasts are harmoniously proportioned
with the length of the torso and thus
with the available space. In addition
to the strip nose, the face has two thin
circular incisions indicating the eyes. The
neck is flattened from the frontal view
and slightly convex when seen from
behind. The slight vertical groove on
the back, formally inexplicable, seems
to divide this anatomical part in half.
Finally, also on the back, there is a non-
invasive decoration with closely spaced
short notches on the shoulders and part
of the arms. Rather than suggesting an
ornamental element of the clothing, it
seems to be a formal embellishment of
the quadrangular structure.
Like the Senorbì example, this
statuette is exceptional for the balance
and harmony of its proportions,
and again like the Senorbì figure,
the relationship of its dimensions
approximates the value of the
Greek
phi
. In fact, the position of
the two breasts divides the structure
into two segments, whose lengths
(respectively from the breasts to the
top of the head and from the breasts
to the bottom of the figure) have a
rapport approaching 1.6. The sense
of equilibrium is created by another
dimensional parameter as well, i.e.,
the relationship between the height of
the perforated central plaque and the
sum of the heights of the neck+head
and the lower section is likewise
very close to 1.6. As in the Senorbì
figurine, the female gender of this
Porto Ferro statuette, represented
seemingly nude, predominates over
her appearance as a mother.
S.L., M.F.
97
96
96
CYCLADES
99
98
Standing SteatopygouS
figure
Cyclades
Neolithic period
(late V millennium BC)
Private Collection, UK
(cat. 10, detail)
An oVerVieW
of cyclAdic fiGureS
T
he cyclades, a group of islands arranged in a circle (hence their name)
in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Anatolia, are rich in high quality,
mainly white, marble. this natural resource was exploited in Antiquity,
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