Statuette of a Striding Figure

Description

Cast in solid copper and executed with a remarkable degree of sophistication, this statuette is thought to represent a supernatural being that served as an intermediary between the physical world and the spiritual realm. It depicts a muscular, bearded male wearing a headdress of goat horns and ears, a raptor skin over his shoulders, a cylindrical belt around his trim waist, and ankle boots with long, curved toes. His eyes are inlaid with bits of shell or stone; the now-missing pupils were probably made from a contrasting material. It is one of a pair of virtually identical figures (the other is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) that are unlike anything else that is known today.

Statuette of a Striding Figure

Ancient Mesopotamian

3000-2800 BCE

Accession Number

206785

Medium

Copper

Dimensions

17.2 × 5.7 × 5.7 cm (6 3/4 × 2 1/4 × 2 1/4 in.)

Classification

ritual objects

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Anonymous loan