Figurine mould
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
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Figurine mould
499 BCE – 300 BCE
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
early Asclepieion, ancient Messene
Width: 9 cm x Height: 21.5 cm
Terracotta mould for the production of figurines depicting Leda and the swan on a cylindrical base. A plaster cast reproduced from the mould has shown that Leda is naked, depicted from the thighs up. With her right hand she raises a himation, ready to cover her body, so as to conceal the imminent erotic encounter with Zeus/swan, whom she tenderly embraces. The figurine is iconographicaly akin to the so-called Venus Frejus, the best copy of the type having been found in Naples and exhibited in the Louvre. The prototype dates to the late 5th cent. BCE. The mould was locally produced and was dedicated to the earlier Asclepieion of ancient Messene.