Fragmentary Statue of a Figure with Dwarfism

1st century B.C.-1st century C.E.

This statue is a typical Hellenistic genre figure, sitting perhaps in the pose of an Egyptian scribe, with the legs crossed in front of the body. The combination of Greek and Egyptian styles suggests that this piece was made in an Alexandrian workshop at the end of the Ptolemaic Period or later. In Greece, as in Egypt, physical anomalies were seen as a mark of special knowledge and connection with the gods. Both ancient cultures associated deities with dwarfism with fertility and the protection of families, especially mothers and children.