Iberian Peninsula to the indus

particularly on naxos and paros, and continues to be today. during the Bronze 
Age, covering most of the third millennium Bc (ca. 2800–2200 Bc), the cyclades 
developed a complex culture with an extraordinary marble-carving tradition 
specializing in figures and vessels. t
he figures exerted widespread influence in 
Crete, Attica, southwestern Anatolia and other Aegean regions through export 
and local imitation.
the antecedents to the typical Cycladic works occur throughout the Aegean in the 
neolithic period, beginning about 5000 BC. the representations are predominantly 
of women, characterized by exaggerated buttocks and thighs, shown standing or 
sitting with folded legs.
Between about 3000 and 2800 BC, a significant innovation occurred in the Cy-
clades with the appearance of a svelte, relatively more naturalistic form of figure 
known as the Plastiras type. About a quarter of these are male; seated figures now 
come to an end. Violin-shaped examples and stone vessels called
 kandilas
, possibly 
storage vessels containing water for the dead, appear as well.
the classic reclining folded-arm figures, with the proper left over the right, emerge 
about 2700 BC. the varieties, conventionally named after significant find-sites, doc-
ument a gradual, uneven, stylistic evolution. the major groups during the third 
millennium BC are called Kapsala, early spedos, late spedos, dokathismata and 
Chalandriani. Careful study has been able to demonstrate that, among the “classic” 
Cycladic figures, subgroups can be recognized according to systems of proportions 
based on subdivisions of a circle. this observation as well as details of articulation 
underlie the identification of individual carvers. each work remains unique in its 
own way, within a discernible artistic practice.
the early spedos reclining figures are robustly built, some quite large, the head 
usually lyre-shaped. their design reveals particular care. the greatest width of the 
body is often half of the total length; each of the major anatomical units, notably 
the head and neck as well as the calves and feet, is often a quarter of the length. 
the phase is also distinguished by the variety of special types – seated male figures 
playing a harp-like instrument or holding a vessel, the standing male playing pipes, 
seated females, groups etc.

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100
the late Spedos figure can be very large, with a lyre-shaped head, broad sloping 
shoulders, the leg-cleft unpierced and the profile view quite straight. the Goulandris 
Sculptor stands out as the most prolific, over a long career; more than a hundred 
complete works and fragments have been identified. his creations epitomize the calm 
restraint and harmony of proportions that one associates with cycladic sculpture.
With the dokathismata and its further development, the chalandriani variety, the 
straight profile continues, the front and back tend to 
be flat, with abrupt bulges for 
breasts, belly, knees and buttocks. the outline contours of the legs are angular, the 
leg cleft shallow. there is a greater emphasis on the upper torso and the position of 
the arms, which had remained constant for so long, now can vary. the head often 
assumes a shield shape. the severity of the dokathismata figure is relieved by an 
elegant rendering of the forearms and the bold audacity of the stylized forms (
cat. n° 
22-23
). Around 2300–2200 BC, representations of an armed male are introduced. the 
hunter-warrior wearing a baldric, a belt and a penis sheath suggests the presence 
of a threat to the islanders. it may therefore be no coincidence that the art of mar-
ble-carving, which had flourished over six hundred years, then came to an abrupt 
end. significantly, the revival of the art, during the late seventh century BC, the greek 
Archaic period, originated on the same marble rich islands.
the function(s) of Cycladic figures cannot be identified with certainty, but evidence 
for their repair and abundant remains of polychromy makes clear that they were 
actively used during the lives of their owners before they were placed in tombs. they 
were brightly painted, notably with almond-shaped eyes and a mass of hair across 
the forehead and down the back. red and blue seem to be symbolically important, 
and repainting seems to have occurred repeatedly, of the eyes in particular. some of 
the repainting may have taken place as part of women’s rituals. one might speculate 
that the female image represented a protective maternal being with control over 
such mysterious phenomena as birth, death, disease, the seasons, the bountiful yet 
treacherous sea, the night sky alive with myriad stars, the rising and setting of the 
sun. shamanistic rituals may have been performed on the occasion of events having 
to do with puberty, marriage, conception, pregnancy, childbirth, illness and death. 
there are female Cycladic figures shown as pregnant or with postpartum creases. 
the folded arms may have been regarded as symbolically shielding the womb, in 
addition to minimizing damage to the figure. in the tomb, the position with folded 
arms would, finally, have been appropriate for funerary rites.
G-G.P.
violin figure
Cyclades
Early Cycladic I period (3300–2700 BC)
Ligabue Collection, Venice
(cat. 13)