Kore-Shaped Perfume Flask
525–500 BCE
Mold-made in the form of a standing maiden, or kore, this vessel likely once held expensive perfumed oil. The figure, who might represent the goddess Aphrodite, holds a dove by her chest with one hand, and her pleated drapery in the other. Traces of red pigment hint at a much more vibrant original appearance.
Images courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0)