The Acropolis Kore

myminifactory

[Kore 678] flaunts a laughable parody of the Ionic costume, betraying a woefully inaccurate imitation. The garments cling so tightly to the body behind as to suggest complete nudity. We see another example of uninformed imitation here.—Guy Dickins, Catalogue Of The Acropolis Museum, 1912 This is my 3D scan of the Skulpturhalle Basel's late 19th-century plaster cast of the Athens Acropolis Museum's Kore 678. The 6th-century BC marble figure was discovered west of the Erechtheion in 1886. The thin raised lines that outline the figure's contours are remnants from the 19th-century piece-mold technique used to create the plaster cast. These parting lines were not viewed as flaws, and skilled mold-makers would deliberately leave them intact, thereby recording their work. Kore 678 has been described as "Pseudo-Ionic" because its clothing appears to be an odd and imperfect representation of the Ionic style. A 1912 catalog of the Acropolis Museum speculates that Kore 678 could have been crafted by "an early Attic sculptor, who wanted to create a figure in imitation of the new fashion just emerging." Unlike the bulkier dresses of most korai, Kore 678's clothing is ridiculously close-fitting, revealing an idealized female form beneath. —Cosmo Wenman @cosmowenman cosmowenman.com cosmo.wenman@gmail.com