TANAGRAS. Figurines for Life and Eternity

Named for the city in Greece where they were first discovered in the 1870s, Tanagra statuettes are an elegant example of ancient Greek terra-cotta sculpture from the fourth and third centuries BC.  Mainly found in tombs in this city, the small statuettes take many forms, mainly girls but also young men, children, old women, and sometimes deities. In Athens, they were also used in sacred contexts and are believed to have had a religious significance. The “tanagrean” style spread all throughout the Mediterranean basin.

Today, the Louvre houses one of the world’s largest and most complete collections of Tanagra figurines.

This stunning exhibition catalog is the most current publication in English devoted to the Tanagras. Showcasing the Louvre’s prestigious collection of figurines, Tanagras includes new research carried out by the world’s leading scholars of Hellenistic art and culture. The essays examine the meaning and purpose of the statuettes in Ancient Greece and the artistic and technical skill involved in the making of such handicraft.  Tanagras presents a beautiful and informed look at one of the masterly achievements of classical Greek art.

Violaine Jeammet is senior curator in the Louvre’s Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities and organizing curator of two exhibitions on Tanagra figurines.