Relief: Exaltation of the Flower

Relief: Exaltation of the Flower Greek Art Musee du Louvre, Paris

The “Exaltation de la Fleur” (exaltation of the flower), is an ancient Greek Sculpture. It is made from a grave stele. In the sculpture are two women wearing some type of hair net, holding poppy or pomegranate flowers, and maybe a small bag of seeds. The hair nets could be a form of sophistication, wearing the hair up instead of having it down. Holding the flowers is the symbol what they are representing. The small bag of seeds can correspond to the flowers and show how they must continue to grow. The word exalt means to praise or worship, as in a God; in reference to that the two women in the sculpture could represent Goddess of flowers.

What I first noticed about this sculpture were the fact that there are two women and they are in profile. They are almost in perfect symmetry, which meant they were equal in their culture. As one women’s head is down and eyes seem to be closed there is still a smile on her face; maybe she is praying to the other Gods over the bag of seeds she is protector of. The other woman seems to be smiling as well however her head is not vowed and eyes are opened looking at the other women. There are numerous amounts of lines in this sculpture, not only in the robes or gowns the women are wearing but there are lines showing the distinction between their hair and the hairnets. The proportions of their faces can be predicted as a modern woman of today, the slight difference is the nose how it comes straight from the forehead. I choose this piece of artwork because it was nice to see women holding a high position as being a goddess!