Lady of Elche

The Dama de Elche ( German Lady of Elche ) is a bust, which is regarded as an outstanding example of the art of the Iberians.

Appearance

The bust is made of stone and shows a woman wearing a complex hair ornaments and on each side of the head a hairball. The face has a slight asymmetry. The headdress consists of a complicated hairstyle and an outgoing from the front hood. The face is framed by two side brackets that enclose the braided hair.

Stylistically, the Lady of Elche was filed shortly after its discovery in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

History

The sculpture was found by accident in La Alcudia (Spain ) on August 4, 1897, which is two kilometers from Elche. The Finder was the 14 -year-old worker Manuel Campello Esclapez. A few weeks later bought Pierre Paris, a French archaeologist, the sculpture and had them in the Louvre exhibit. 1941, the lady returned to Spain and was exhibited in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. From there they moved to National Archaelogical Museum Nacional of the city, where it has remained to this day.

In 1948 she was immortalized on the one- peseta banknote.

Controversy over the sculpture

Again and again calls moose, that returns the city, the lady. For this purpose, even a private club was founded. In Elche you can see so far only a reproduction.