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Discovery of the Lady of Elche

Elx/Elche, El Baix Vinalopó, Alicante

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Discovery of the Lady of Elche

Curiosity · Elx/Elche, El Baix Vinalopó, Alicante

The Lady of Elche is an Iberian limestone bust 56 centimetres high and 115 in circumference, carved between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, depicting a richly adorned woman wearing a headdress with a tiara, veil and two side coils, three necklaces and a brooch fastening the tunic; it was originally polychrome, with the eyes filled with glass paste. It was found by chance on 4 August 1897 at the La Alcudia site and was bought by the Louvre Museum following the interest of the Hispanist Pierre Paris; in 1941 it returned to Spain and was deposited in the Prado Museum, and since 1971 it has been part of the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. A 2011 analysis of remains found in its rear cavity concluded that it had been used as a cinerary urn in Iberian times.

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