PLAGUE WOMAN, so-called "Orante" Probably Canosa, Apulia, 3rd century BC. Hollowed terracotta with traces of engobe. Rectangular opening at the back. Upright, full-length female figure standing slightly in contrapposto wrapped in a chiton, with a himation falling to her hips. The arms bent in a gesture of lamentation (left hand incomplete, right forearm incomplete). Long neck, expressive facial features, shoulder-length parted hair. H 92 cm. Repaired, assembled from several pieces. Original perforations. Right hand missing, left arm replaced, hand incomplete. Chips in the foot area. Provenance: - Private collection Pino Donati, Molinazzo di Monteggio, 1950/60s (according to Donati Arte Classica). - Donati Arte Classica, Lugano 2010 (copy of invoice available). - Galerie Günther Puhze, Basel, November 2013 (copy of invoice available). - Collection Dr Sylvia Legrain, acquired directly from the above gallery. These terracotta figures depict women in various gestures of prayer, affection or mourning and are therefore referred to as "orantes" or "pleureses" in French specialised literature. The figurines were discovered in small groups of four to six pieces each in aristocratic burial chambers in the Apulian Canosa in southern Italy. The Geneva archaeologist Waldemar Deonna was the first to realise the significance of these figures with his publication "Les statues de terre cuite dans l'antiquité" (Paris, 1907/1908). The funerary sculptures were created in the late fourth and early third centuries B.C. They are unusually large compared to most Greek terracotta figures. There are fewer than 50 exhibits worldwide (most of them in museums) that are recognised as ancient by scholars. It is only in recent decades that the figures from Canosa have increasingly attracted the attention of experts. Violaine Jeammet, curator of Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities at the Musée du Louvre, has focussed intensively on these characteristic lamenting women. In her publication "Quelques particularités de la production des pleureuses canosines en terre cuite", she outlines three main groups of Canosine lamentation women based on a technical analysis that essentially reflects the production method. The variety of clothing (himation, chiton or short or long), hairstyles (plaits, parted hairstyle), facial expressions (serious, dissolved, sad, etc.) and gestures enable her to make even finer iconographic groupings. In an article from 1999, Frederike van der Wielen-van Ommeren probably mentions the present Lamenting Woman, which appeared on the Swiss art market in 1981. She attributes the figure to a group of lamenting women with the following characteristics: "Group II, series 4 short to medium-length himation, covered by a tunic except under the arms and forming asymmetrical folds between the arms; the hair falls in one or three strands" (cf. Frederike van der Wielen-van Ommeren, "orantes canosines", in: Genève et l'Italie, Geneva 1999, p. 56, no. 23). In view of the limited production, it is likely that the Canosine lamentation women were made in the same workshop or at least in closely related workshops. The differences in appearance probably show the hand of individual craftsmen. The coloured engobe enlivened the figures and brought them to life to a certain extent. The exact function of the lamentation women in the cult of the dead is still being debated. The holes visible in the area of the base also indicate that they were used as processional statues at funerals, as the statues could be shouldered through a wooden construction. Inside the tomb, the statues were arranged around the mortuary bar, where they acted as constant companions to the deceased and were intended to ensure the soul's safe passage to the afterlife through constant prayer and lamentation. Some impressive exhibits can be found in renowned museums and can be used for comparison. As far as the gathering or drapery of the robe and the arms bent towards heaven are concerned, our sculpture can be compared with a group of four from the J. Paul Getty Museum (inv. no. 85.AD.76.1-4). The proportions, facial expressions, pose and details such as the shoulder-length hair parted in two strands in the centre of a pleureuse in the Louvre in Paris (inv. no. CA 7500) show striking similarities to ours. Bibliography: - Violaine Jeammet, "Quelques particularités de la production des pleureuses canosines en terre cuite", Revue Archéologique, 2003/2, pp. 255-292. - Ruth Allen, "Science Reveals New Clues about Mysterious Ancient Sculptures of Mourning Women", The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019. - Mollard-Besques IV-I, no. D4116, plate 156a and D4116 plate 156c. - Frederike van der Wielen-van Ommeren, "orantes canosines", in: Angela Kahn-Laginestra (ed.) Genève et l'Italie, Geneva 1999, pp. 44-65.