Terracotta Bust of a Woman in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Two terracotta busts
Greek, Sicilian, 4th century BC
Accession # 1994.600.1, .2

These busts, identified as Persephone, or possibly Demeter, depict a goddess wearing a polos (headdress). As is typical of such Sicilian terracottas, they do not represent the figure's arms or breasts, but the face and the hair with its streaming locks and curls are powerfully rendered. Originally, they were adorned with earrings, as indicated by the holes in the earlobes. They were probably painted and gilded and were presumably set up as votive offerings in sanctuaries.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.