Fragment or Essence

Fragment or Essence

This female head from the Cyclades, dating to the third millennium BCE, is a miracle of beauty, purity, and simplicity (Denon, room 170). The white marble contributes to its essential character. In time, it was detached from a statue that stood tall, legs together, arms crossed, like the sculptures in the neighboring vitrines, but on a smaller scale. Now, it is all the more touching for being alone, detached from the rest of the body, not a fragment but a whole, a unity—a single head. The wound at the bottom of the chin heightens the emotion. This head has been lost, damaged, found again after thousands of years. The entire story of humankind is summarized in her. What more could we ask for?