The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore: The Terracotta Sculpture

This Volume is devoted to the large-scale, freestanding terracotta sculpture from the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Corinth. Approximately 944 fragments of sculpture were found, extending in date from the late 7th through the 4th century B.C. These fragments represent a minimum of 132 full-figure statues, and perhaps as many as 147. These are, for the most part, statues of young males, both draped and nude, although females and seated infants appear as well. Two particularly well-preserved statues, a draped figure of the later 6th century and a similar figure of the last quarter of the 5th century B.C., illustrate the prevailing type. All of the sculptural dedications presented here were made locally in Corinth. At Corinth, where marble was not readily available but good quality clay was, clay was the dominant medium for sculpture in the Greek period.

Despite the fragmentary condition of the material presented in this volume, its importance cannot be emphasized enough. It is the largest body of Greek sculpture recovered from Corinth, and one of the largest bodies of terracotta sculpture yet found anywhere in the Greek world. This volume broadens our understanding both of the manufacture of terracotta sculpture and of cult practices at the site, and greatly expands our knowledge of the sculptural history of Corinth.

Nancy Bookidis is codirector of the excavations of the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, and coauthor, with Ronald Stroud, of the third part of this volume, Topography and Architecture.