Lady of Elche

The Lady of Elche or Lady of Elx is a limestone bust that was discovered in 1897 at L'Alcúdia, an archaeological site on a private estate two kilometers south of Elche, Spain. It is currently exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain in Madrid. It is generally known as an Iberian artifact from the 4th century BC, although the artisanship suggests strong Hellenistic influences. According to The Encyclopedia of Religion, the Lady of Elche (Roman Illici), is believed to have a direct association with Tanit, the goddess of Carthage, who was worshiped by the Punic-Iberians. The originally polychromed bust is thought to represent a woman wearing a complex headdress and large wheel-like coils (known as rodetes) on each side of the face. The opening in the rear of the sculpture indicates it may have been used as a funerary urn. Detail of the Lady of Elche Other artifacts associated with Iberian culture are the Lady of Guardamar −which has similar wheel-like rodetes and necklaces− or the Lady of Baza. While the Lady of Elche is a bust, there are indications that it was part of a seated statue, similar to the Lady of Baza (with which it shares similar necklance pendants) or a standing one like the Gran Dama Oferente from Cerro de los Santos (Montealegre del Castillo, Albacete). These three figures and the Bicha of Balazote are exhibited in the same Iberian art hall in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain in Madrid.埃尔切女士（Lady of Elche / Lady of Elx）是一件石灰石（limestone）半身像（bust），1897年于西班牙埃尔切（Elche）以南2公里处一处私人庄园内的考古遗址阿尔库迪亚（L'Alcúdia）出土。该文物现展出于马德里的西班牙国家考古博物馆（National Archaeological Museum of Spain）。 尽管其制作工艺带有显著的希腊化（Hellenistic）风格影响，但学界通常将其归为公元前4世纪的伊比利亚（Iberian）文物。据《宗教百科全书（The Encyclopedia of Religion）》记载，埃尔切女士（罗马时期称伊利奇（Illici））被认为与迦太基女神塔尼特（Tanit）存在直接关联，后者曾为布匿-伊比利亚人（Punic-Iberians）所崇拜。 这件原本带有彩绘的半身像，被认为塑造了一位头戴繁复头饰、脸颊两侧佩戴大型轮状饰圈（rodetes）的女性形象。雕塑背部的开孔表明，它可能曾被用作骨灰瓮（funerary urn）。 ### 埃尔切女士细节（Detail of the Lady of Elche） 与伊比利亚文化相关的其他文物还有瓜达马尔女士（Lady of Guardamar）与巴扎女士（Lady of Baza），其中瓜达马尔女士带有同款轮状饰圈与项链造型。尽管埃尔切女士仅为半身像，但诸多迹象表明它原本是坐像的一部分——与巴扎女士造型类似（二者均带有同款项链坠饰），或是如来自圣山（Cerro de los Santos，位于阿尔瓦塞特省卡斯蒂利亚蒙泰阿莱格雷（Montealegre del Castillo, Albacete））的《奉献贵妇人（Gran Dama Oferente）》那样的立像。 这三件雕像与巴拉佐特兽像（Bicha of Balazote）一同展出于马德里西班牙国家考古博物馆的伊比利亚艺术展厅内。