Kore is the name given to a type of ancient Greek sculpture

Ancient Greek sculpture

Ancient Greek sculpture is the sculpture of Ancient Greece. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages. They were used to depict the battles, mythology, and rulers of the land known as Ancient Greece.-Geometric:...

 of the Archaic period

Archaic period in Greece

The Archaic period in Greece was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written...

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There are multiple theories on who they represent, and as to whether they represent mortals or deities - one theory is that they represent Persephone

Persephone

In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....

 the daughter in the triad of the Mother Goddess cults or votary figures to attend the maiden goddess.

Kouroi

Kouros

A kouros is the modern term given to those representations of male youths which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece. The term kouros, meaning youth, was first proposed for what were previously thought to be depictions of Apollo by V. I...

 are the youthful male equivalent of Kore statues. They both show the restrained "archaic smile

Archaic smile

The Archaic smile was used by Greek Archaic sculptors, especially in the second quarter of the sixth century BCE, possibly to suggest that their subject was alive, and infused with a sense of well-being. To viewers habituated to realism, the smile is flat and quite unnatural looking, although it...

", but - unlike the nude kouroi - korai are depicted in thick drapery, ornate and (in painted examples) very colorful and often have elaborate braided hairdos. (Some of the hair styles of the statues are quite Egyptian and Minoan in style and often resembling the hairstyle of the Gorgon

Gorgon

In Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a...

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They also often have a much more relaxed and natural posture, sometimes with an extended arm. Some, but perhaps not all, korai were painted, with colorful drapery and their skin having a natural coloring.

Such statues existed in many cities of Greece, but most important are the 14 statues that were found east of the Parthenon

Parthenon

The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...

 in 1886 and called the Korai of Acropolis. These statues were stood particularly on round bases, and they were outdoor
exposed. When the Persians burned the Acropolis

Acropolis

Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

 in 480 BC, they threw them from their bases, but some survived, and are hosted now in the Acropolis Museum

Acropolis Museum

The Old Acropolis Museum was an archaeological museum located in Athens, Greece on the archeological site of Acropolis. It is built in a niche at the eastern edge of the rock and most of it lies beneath the level of the hilltop, making it largely invisible. It was considered one of the major...

. Some of them represented priestesses, while others were more simple, represented female figures and were dedicated to the goddess Athena

Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...

. They have smiling faces, complicated hairdressing and island type dressing, Ionic

Ionia

Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...

 style. With their left hand holding their chiton

Chiton

Chitons are small to large, primitive marine molluscs in the class Polyplacophora.There are 900 to 1,000 extant species of chitons in the class, which was formerly known as Amphineura....

, while with their right hand are holding a flower, fruit or bird. Their hair, along with some other characteristics and the folds of their clothing were colored.

Dominant color was the red for the lips and hair, red and blue for the clothes, and black for the eyes. The kores wore many colored jewels indicating the brightness of their dressing. Thus, they symbolized the elegant, dressy Athenian of the 6th century BC. The most beautiful of the kores of the Acropolis was simpler and had a more serious appearance than the others and thus more suited to the masculine character of Athena, to whom was also dedicated. She had been made by Antenor

Antenor

Antenor was an Athenian sculptor, of the latter part of the 6th century BC. He was named after the mythological figure also called Antenor. He was the creator of the joint statues of the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton, set up by the Athenians on the expulsion of Hippias. These statues...

, an Athenian creator, in the late 6th century BC, and was a votive of a potter named Nearchos. But there were not the korai used only as offerings. There were also the famous Caryatids of the 5th century BC, who were used as architectural supports, the Tanagraean kores etc. Also exists the famous kore of Antion, found in Italy and it is an original work of the 4th century BC, created by the sculptor Phanis, student of Lysippos

Lysippos

Lysippos was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic period. Problems confront the study of Lysippos because of the difficulty of...

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The Peplos Kore (right) dates from 530-520 BC. It was found in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 and is in the collection of the Acropolis Museum

Acropolis Museum

The Old Acropolis Museum was an archaeological museum located in Athens, Greece on the archeological site of Acropolis. It is built in a niche at the eastern edge of the rock and most of it lies beneath the level of the hilltop, making it largely invisible. It was considered one of the major...

 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. Some argue that this statue represents the goddess Athene. Another well-known example of a Kore statue is the Lady of Auxerre

Lady of Auxerre

The relatively small limestone Cretan sculpture called the Lady of Auxerre, , at the Louvre Museum in Paris depicts an archaic Greek goddess of c. 650 - 625 BC...

at the Louvre

Louvre

The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

, though this is from the Daedalic style of Cretan art and so is not typical of the kore type as a whole.

External links

• Korai - Ancient-Greece.org
• Gallery - Mlahanas.de
• The Kore collection from the new museum of Acropolis - Greek-thesaurus