DJENNE CULTURE, MALI Crouching figure, terracotta; H. 45.5 cm. Massively immobile, and formally complex, this figure presents the viewer with no obvious "principal view." It leads us to circle it and finally to hesitate between the angle that confronts the face directly but places the shoulders in three quarter view, and the angle that shows the shoulders squarely, but leaves the face averted. Though we know virtually nothing about the original meaning ofsuch figures, we are captured by the enigmatic contradiction between the suffering body with its broken pustules and crawling worms or snakes, and the composed, noble gesture and facial expression. 2 DJENNE CULTURE, MALI Torque, bronze; H. 36 cm.
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