She was found in a storage vault in the Museum of Auxerre, near Paris, in 1909, when a curator from the Louvre caught sight of her. No provenance is known.
She dates from the time when Greece was emerging from its Dark Age. She still has the narrow waist of a Minoan-Mycenaeangoddess, and her stiff hair suggests Egyptian influence. The style has been termed "Daedalic." Her secret, knowing and serene hint of a smile is often characterized as the "archaic smile."
This statuette of a woman was purchased in 1895 by the manager of the theater at Auxerre, who used it as decoration for an operetta.
The Lady of Auxerre stands upright, her left arm by her side, her right folded across her chest, in the strict frontality that is characteristic of the Daedalic.
She is clothed in a sheath dress held in at the waist by a large belt; on her shoulders is a cape.
The famous «Lady of Auxerre» is waiting to be seen by the Greek public beneath the sky that first saw her created, before returning home to the Louvre Museum in Paris.
A small sculpture depicting a Kore or an ancient goddess, it was found in a storeroom at the Museum of Auxerre near Paris in 1907 by a curator from the Louvre, where it has been on permanent display.
It is revisiting Athens thanks to the generous sponsorship of J.T. International for the Eleutherna exhibition at the Museum of Cycladic Art's new wing in the Stathatos Mansion (Vassilissis Sofias and 1 Irodotou) until March 2.
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