Cycladic Figure

Carved marble figure, dated “about 2400 BC[E]”, seen at the Getty Villa museum, 9/22/22

This female figure, made about 4,400 years ago, is the finest of several examples in the Getty's collection of artifacts from the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea, southeast of Greece.

The museum tells us that this figure bears traces of paint on the face, but they are impossible to discern. This unpainted version appeals to the modern eye. When 20th century artist Constantin Brancusi made sculptures that invoked these simple lines, an eager market for Cycladic antiquities emerged.

The museum tells us that the "slight swelling of this figure's abdomen suggests pregnancy". To my eye, the swelling is so slight that it merely suggests femininity. I go further: that the arms folded across the midriff speak to the bodily integrity of this individual, and that she asserts protection of herself in an innate gesture, as the natural right of every human being to ward off the intruder.