Tanagra Definition

It is an ancient Greek art, where small fire clay statutes measuring 10 to 20 cm in height, are fired before coating with liquid white slip and painted afterwards in natural shades with watercolours. These terracotta figurines derived their name from Boeotian town of Tanagra. It is believed that Tanagra was the centre of the terracotta figurines as a great number of figurines were discovered and illicitly removed from its tombs. The figurines were first brought to notice towards the end of 1860’s when some ploughmen in Vratsi in Boeotica uncovered tombs that were centuries old. It is estimated that Tanagara figurines are from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. These figures are mainly of women or girls in everyday costume. They are gracefully draped in thin himatia, often accessorised with hats, wreaths or fans. Some Tanagara figures of boys, Aphrodite and Eros are also discovered. Mostly, figurines discovered in houses represent deities and was kept in the domestic shrines and used for religious purposes. Tanagara figurines were also placed in tombs. Tanagra sculptors were named coraplasters as they mainly depicted women. In Greek, cora means a girl, and plastein refers to sculpt.
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