婦人小像ふじんしょうぞう

  • 東地中海地域
  • エーゲ海地域
  • 紀元前1500年頃
  • 青銅製
  • H-13.5
解説(開館1周年記念展)

この上体を反らして直立する女性は,左手を下に右手を額に当て仰ぎ見るしぐさをしている。波うつ髪を頭の後方で結い,腰の後ろまで垂らす。上衣は半袖で,襟の装飾帯が首から胸の脇をとおり腹部で合わさる,胸を大きく強調し体に密着した衣服を着ている。腰には太い帯を三重に巻き右脇で結わえ,前面中央に装飾帯と両脇に襞あるいは重ねの見られる裾の広がったスカートをはいている。

これに類する女性および男性をかたどった青銅小像は,ミノア中期から後期にかけて多くの岩窟の神殿,そして山頂の神殿あるいは家の祠堂に奉納されたものである。この姿が上方に顕現した神を礼拝するものであったことが,当時の指輪に刻まれた場面から理解される〈挿図1〉。*1 これらは蝋型鋳造法で作られ,男性像は無垢,女性像は上体は無垢でスカート内部は空洞になっている。この像もスカート内部は空洞で上体は無垢であるが,頭部から垂れる髪と背中との間に空間が作り出されている。耳には大きめのイヤリング,首には二重のネックレス,手首にはブレスレットをつけ,上衣の袖端や肩から袖端に伸びる装飾帯を表現するなど繊細な表現が見られる。

知られている類例はおおむね像高10センチ以内という小さいものであるが,全体の印象を第一に形成し,細部の表現にはあまり関心がない。しかしこの13.5センチの像は,同時期のクレタ島由来のファイアンス製女神官像,クレタ島,テラ島やバルカン半島の宮殿などの遺跡から出土した壁画に見られる女性像と,その細部をも含め多くの共通点をもっている。特に大きなイヤリングをつけた女性像は,テラ島の壁画に通じるものがある。*2

本作品と類似の出自をもつと伝えられる同様の姿勢をとった19センチの男性像〈挿図2〉は,驚くべき繊細な手法で,ウエーブのかかった髪をはじめ装身具,筋肉表現を行っている。これも,ミノア後期クレタ島出土の凍石製の器などに見られる男性像の表現と多くの共通点をもっている。しかしこの筋肉表現は,ギリシア本土のラコニアから出土した12センチの男性像や金杯の浮彫像に近いものがある。*3

同時期のトロイア由来とされるベルリンの像高18.4センチの像は,クレタ島の貴族からの依頼によって制作されたものと想像され,たいへん肉感的で乳房の盛り上がりや鳩尾の窪み,着衣の装飾帯,クレタ島やテラ島の壁画に見られるような結った波うつ髪の表現がなされている。*4 更にこの男性像の場合はクレタ・ハギアトリアダ由来の凍石杯*5 に見られるように,高い身分の人物を表したものであることが想像されるが,当時は,王も含め王族は祭祀においても神官,女神官であって,これらの近似例と同様に本作品もかなり身分の高い女性をかたどったものであると想像される。

1 Ashmolean Museum 1938.1127
2 Sara A. Immerwahr/Aegean Painting in the Bronze Age/Pennsylvania 1990
3 R. Hampe, E. Simon/The Birth of Greek Art/London 1980 Pl.364 National Museum, Athens
4 Museum of Antiquities Berlin/Zurich 1980 no.2
5 Herakleion Museum no.341

Catalogue Entry

This woman stands upright but bends her upper body slightly backwards as if to look up at something, holding her right hand at her forehead. Her left arm is held by her side. Her wavy hair is braided behind the head, and hangs down to reach her waist. The decorated collar of her short-sleeve shirt runs down on the side of her chest and is clasped together at her stomach. Together with her tight-fitting clothes, the overall image emphasizes her breast. A broad belt wraps around her waist three times, and is knotted on the right side. With a decorative sash hanging down the front center, she wears a flared skirt that shows pleats or gathers at both of her sides.

Small bronze figures modeled after a man or a woman like the present piece were dedicated to many temples in caves or on the summit of mountains, as well as in private homes from the mid- to late Minoan era. From scenes carved on rings at that time, the pose is apparently that of a worshipping follower of a religion whose god has just made an appearance in the sky (fig. 1).*1 Figures of this sort were all produced by the lost-wax casting method. Male figures were solid-cast, as were female figures' upper bodies. The inside of females' skirt were left empty. The present piece is hollow inside the skirt and the upper body was solid-cast. Space is left open between the hanging hair and her back. She wears large earrings, a two-fold necklace, and bracelets. Delicate and detailed expressions abound in this work, especially in the treatment of the end of the sleeves and the decorative band extending from the shoulder to the end of the sleeves.

Extant figures of this type are mostly small, within 10cm in height. The general appearance must have been the main thrust of these pieces and less interest is customarily shown in detail. The present figure, measuring 13.5cm in height, however, has features in common with those of priestesses of the same period from Crete made by faience, and with female images seen in murals excavated from the remains of temples on the Crete and Thera Islands and in the Balkan Peninsula. A female image with large earrings, such as this piece, is found in Thera murals.*2

A male figure of 19cm in height (fig. 2) in a similar posture and perhaps belonging to the same group was produced using a surprisingly delicate method in the expression of wavy hair, accessories, and muscle tone. This also has features in common with the male images seen in steatite vessels of later Minoa from Crete. The expression of physical beauty of this male figure suggests a stylistic connection to a male figure of 12cm in height and to bas-relief portrayals on gold cups from Lakonia in Greece proper.*3

Similar to this piece is a figure of a priestess, 18.4cm in height, owned by a museum in Berlin and thought to come from Troy, which is presumed to have been produced at the request of a Crete nobleman. This figure exudes sensuality, expressed by means of the full breast, flat pit of the stomach, decorative belt, and wavy hair like ones found in wall paintings of Crete and Thera.*4 It is surmised that this male figure, too, depicts a nobleman, like the images seen on steatite vessels*5 from Hagia Triada in Crete. During that time, the king's clan, including the king himself, served as priests and priestesses in ceremonies and festivals. It is therefore likely that the woman depicted here is of a very high-rank.

解説(古代バクトリア遺宝展)

10男性小像
前二千年紀中頃
青銅
高19.0 cm
11婦人小像
前二千年紀中頃
青銅
高13.5 cm
 上体を反らして直立する2体の小像は、等しく左手を下に右手を額に当て仰ぎ見る仕草をしている。婦人像は波打つ髪を頭の後方で結い、腰の後ろまで垂らす。上衣は半袖で体に密着し、襟の装飾帯が首から胸の脇を通り腹部で合わさる形式で胸を大きく強調している。腰に太い帯を三重に巻き、細く締めて右脇で結わえ、前面中央に装飾帯と両脇に襞あるいは重ねの見られる裾の広がった長いスカートをはいている。男性像は驚くべき繊細な手法で長くウエーブのかかった髪が作り出され、短いズボンを着け、靴を履いている。
 これに類する男性及び女性を象った青銅小像は、ミノア中期から後期にかけて多くの岩窟の神殿、そして山頂の神殿あるいは家の祠堂に奉納されたものである。この姿が上方に顕現した神を礼拝するものであったことが、当時の指輪に陰刻された場面から理解される。
 これら一連の小像は蝋型鋳造法で作られ、男性像は無垢の鋳造、女性像は上体が無垢で、スカート内部は空洞に鋳造されている。この2体の像も同様の造りであるが、一房ずつ作り出された髪やイヤリング、ネックレス、ブレスレットそして衣服の装飾帯などに見る繊細な表現は稀に見るものである。知られている女性像の類例は概ね像高10センチ以内という小さいもので、あまり細部の表現には関心のないものが殆どである。
 この女性像は同時期のクレタ島、テラ島やバルカン半島の宮殿などの遺跡から出土した壁画に見られる女性像と、その宝飾品や衣服の様式など細部に多くの共通点をもっている。男性像はクレタ島出土のミノア後期青銅製男性像の類例ほどには湾曲した体勢の表現はないが、着衣やブレスレット、靴そして両腕の仕草が全く同一のものである。同様の様式をもった男性像はクレタ島ハギアトリアダ由来の凍石製の器にも見られるが、これは高い身分の人物を表している。同時代には王を含め王族は祭祀においても神官、女神官であって、これらの近似例と同様に本作品も各々かなり身分の高い人物のために作られたものと思われる。

男性小像

Catalogue Entry(Bac#010,#011)

10
Male Figure
Mid-2nd millennium B.C.
Bronze
H. 19.0 cm
11
Female Figure
Mid-2nd millennium B.C.
Bronze
H. 13.5 cm
This pair of small figures stand with their bodies tilted backward and both are seen with their left hand held down while their right hands are held up to their foreheads. The woman has wavy hair which is bound on the back of her head and hangs to the back of her hips. Her upper body is clothed in a tight-fitting short-sleeved garment, while a decorative collar extends from the neck to both sides of the chest to meet over the belly, thereby greatly emphasizing the breasts. The waist is wrapped in three layers of thick bands which are narrowly bound and fastened at the right side. The front center of her skirt is decorated with a band and the long skirt has either folds on each side or a layered hem. The male figure has long wavy hair depicted in an amazingly detailed form. He wears short pants, and is wearing shoes.
Similar small male and female figures in bronze have been found in many of the cave temples dating from the Middle Minoan to the Late Minoan period, and they were also worshipped in mountain top temples or on home altars. This form is said to represent a worshipper honoring a god appearing from above, and this interpretation was confirmed by intaglio carving found on a ring of the period.
This pair of small figures was made by the lost wax casting method, and while the male figure was solid cast, only the upper body of the female figure was solid cast, while her lower body was hollow cast. These two figures have the same kind of handling, while the detailed handling of motifs was quite rare, particularly that seen in the individual locks of hair, earrings, necklace, bracelet and decorative bands on the garments. Similar examples of female figures are generally less than 10 centimeters in height, and the majority of them do not show this attention to detailed handling of motifs.
There are many similarities in the details and styles of jewelry and clothing between this female figure and the female figures excavated on Crete, Thera, and those seen in the wall paintings excavated from the ruins of temples on the Balkan peninsula. The male figure does not exhibit the bowed body posture found on the similar bronze male figures of the Late Minoan period excavated on Crete, but his clothing, bracelets, shoes and positions of both arms are exactly the same. A male figure in the same style on a soapstone vessel comes from the Hagia Triada on Crete and it is thought that this represents a high ranking person. During this period the king and the royal family also acted as priests and priestesses in ritual events, and the resemblance of the two exhibited works to such examples leads to the thought that they were both created for high-ranking people.

男性小像