About the Lady of Elche

Found by chance on 4th August 1897 by a young worker, Manuel Campello Esclapez, on La Alcudia, an archaeological site near the town of Elche on the Costa Blanca. The Lady of Elche is a well-known polychrome stone Iberian art believed to have been produced in the 4th century BC, although some scholars date it to the Hellenestic or Roman period.

It represents the bust of a woman with a very complex headdress and big coils on each side of her face. Her identity also remains a mystery — perhaps a goddess or an Iberian princess. In the back there is a hole, possibly for the deposit of the ashes of the deceased; it could therefore be an example of a cinerary urn, typical of Iberian funerary rituals. Nevertheless, some scientists debate the correct date for the original work, and even its authenticity.

Pierre Paris, a French archaeologist, bought the sculpture on 18th August 1897 from Dr Campello, who found it, for 4,000 francs (around 5,000 pts equivalent rate). He took it to France from Alicante harbour on 30 August 1897, stopping en route in Barcelona and Marseilles. When it was first shown in the Musée du Louvres in Paris, its name was changed from Reina Mora to Dama de Elche (Lady of Elche). In 1939, it was moved to Mondernau Castle near Toulouse in the South of France, which was not occupied by the German army. The Franquiste government entered into negotiations with Petain’s government in 1940-41 for the return of the sculpture. On 8 February 1941 at 9.05am the statue crossed the borderline at Portbou, to be taken to the Museo del Prado in Madrid on 27th June of the same year.

It was later moved to its present location in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. In 1948 the Spanish Central Bank used the Iberian sculpture to illustrate the first 1Pts bank note.


plain text version of this website        disclaimer