Public Domain Photos and Images

Paul Cézanne: The Card Players

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:39:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: The Card Players (Zwei Kartenspieler), oil on canvas painting (1892-93), 97 cm x 130 cm

Can this Paul Cézanne magnum opus be worth $300 million? It seems to be insane, especially so as none of the previously sold most expensive paintings, not another Cézanne, sold ever could fetch even half of the price.

But this painting, The Card Players, one of a series of five paintings by the French Post-Impressionist artist Cézanne, depicting two peasants from Aix-en-Provence deeply engrossed in a card game, broke all the records of art sales and set a new trend of unbelievably high prices for works of modern art, shifting the focus from old master paintings.

The Card Players, believed to be one of the last works Cezanne painted in his life, broke the record of the most expensive painting held by the American painter Jackson Pollock’s classic drip painting titled No. 5, 1948 which was sold for $140 million on November 2, 2006 in a private sale via Sotheby's.

If the highest rumored price for the Card Players can be believed, it is more than double the price of any work of art ever sold. However, the lowest confirmed (yet rumored) price is $250 million. The painting, which was in the private collection of the Greek shipping tycoon George Embiricos, was rarely seen by the public as he kept it as one of his most treasured collections and rarely lent out for exhibitions.

However, before his death in 2011, Embiricos planned for its sales and it was pursued and managed by his estate. The painting is believed to have received offers of over $220 million, but the Royal family of Qatar, the ruling emir family of Qatar, outbid other bidders offering $250 million. However, estimates of the price Qatar paid are often quoted as high as $300 million.

The other Cézanne Card Players in the series are currently in the collections of the Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Courtauld Institute of Art (London) and the Musée d'Orsay (Paris).

Apart from these paintings, there are several other sketches, studies, and paintings of individual figures in the work which Cezanne painted as preparatory works for the main paintings.

Barack Obama with Larry the cat

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:24:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: The British Prime Minister David Cameron introduces the United States President Barack Obama to Larry the cat, the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street in London, England, on May 25, 2011 – photo by Pete Souza, White House Photographer, Washington, DC.

Francis Derwent Wood: Leda and the Swan

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Public Domain Photos: Leda and the Swan (1912), marble sculpture by the British sculptor Francis Derwent Wood RA (1871-1926), height: 38 cm, private collection

Hamilton: Lil'l Southern Belles

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:32:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: Lil'l Southern Belles (1894), oil on canvas painting by the American Impressionist artist Hamilton Hamilton (1847-1928), 91.44 cm x 81.28 cm (36 x 32 inches), public collection

The celebrated American impressionist artist and illustrator Hamilton Hamilton, who was born in Oxford, England, is best known for his landscape and portrait paintings.

For the painting ‘Lil'l Southern Belles’, Hamilton probably used his twin daughters Marguerite and Helen born in 1889 as models. Helen, trained by her father, became a recognized post-impressionist landscape painter.

Paul Gauguin: The Painter of Sunflowers - Portrait of Vincent van Gogh

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:53:00 +0000

Public Domain Photos: The Painter of Sunflowers (Le Peintre de Tournesols), oil on jute painting by Paul Gauguin, 73 cm x 91 cm (28.7 in x 35.8 in), located at Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The Painter of Sunflowers: Portrait of Vincent van Gogh is a portrait of the Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) painted by Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) in December 1888 during his two-months’ stay at Arles, a city and commune in the south of France. The painting features van Gogh as a red bearded man in a brown coat, holding a brush in his right hand and painting sunflowers.

During his stay in Arles van Gogh invited Gauguin to visit him as van Gogh was planning to organize a collective community of artists there. He had also hoped for long-lasting friendship with Gauguin. On 23 October, Gauguin arrived in Arles where the two artists painted together during November. But soon they developed bitter difference of opinion and quarreled frequently on matters regarding art.

Though van Gogh greatly admired Gauguin, he felt that he was arrogant and feared that Gauguin would desert him. Van Gogh became frustrated and critically ill and on 23 December 1888, he threatened Gauguin with a razor blade. But instead of harming Gauguin, he ran to a nearby brothel that used to be the only point of contact he had with other people. In the brothel, he cut off his left ear (or only the lower part of the left earlobe, as claimed by some other accounts) and staggered home, where Gauguin later found him lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

Gauguin took van Gogh to a hospital and informed Theo van Gogh, his younger brother and art dealer, who visited the hospital. Van Gogh had to be in the hospital for several days during which he kept on asking for Gauguin who stayed away. Gauguin left Arles without facing him and he never met van Gogh again.

Now ‘The Painter of Sunflowers’ is housed in the Van Gogh Museum, which has the world’s largest collection of paintings and drawings by van Gogh, and a large number of works by his contemporary artists.

Simon Vouet: La Crucifixion

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:35:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: La Crucifixion, oil on canvas painting of the first half of 17th century by the French Baroque style painter Simon Vouet (1590-1649), 85 in x 57.5 in (216 cm x 146 cm), currently at the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, France.

Yuri Annenkov: Adam and Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 07:42:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: The picture shows a modern version of the Biblical characters Adam and Eve by the Russian artist Yuri Pavlovich Annenkov (1889-1974)

Yuri Annenkov, also known as Georges Annenkov, is mainly noted for his contributions to book illustrations, his design work for theatre and motion pictures and portraits.

Yuri Annenkov was an active member of Mir iskusstva (World of Art), a Russian artistic and literary movement that influenced and inspired Russians to revolutionize European art in the early 20th century.

Though he had worked in the studios of artists Felix Vallotton and Maurice Denis (1911-1912) in Paris, in 1913 he moved to Switzerland for work and a year later returned to St. Petersburg. In Russia, he mostly did magazine and book illustrations and worked for theatres.

Annenkov’s work as a book designer and illustrator brought him fame as he worked for great authors such as Maxim Gorky (Samovar, 1917), Alexander Blok (The Twelve, 1918), Mikhail Kuzmin, and Aleksey Remizov.

Annenkov was also commissioned by the Bolshevik government in Russia for designing and staging shows related to the Russian Revolution. The later part of his life was spent in Paris, where he died, working as an artist and a costume designer for motion pictures.

Mystical marriage of St. Catherine with the Child Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:01:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: Mystical marriage of St. Catherine with the Child Jesus, lime wood sculpture with gold coloring and gilding, Master of Morlin-Epitaphs, Augsburg (1510), Bavarian National Museum, Munich

According to tradition, Saint Catherine of Alexandria (also known as ‘The Great Martyr Saint Catherine’ and ‘Saint Catherine of the Wheel’) became a martyr when she was beheaded on the orders of the Roman Emperor Maxentius.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 282 AD as the daughter of Queen Sabinella and King Costus who governed Alexandria, she was of extraordinary intelligence and a reputed scholar well-versed in sciences, arts, philosophy, etc. Though born a pagan princess, she became a Christian in her teens, and vowed to remain a virgin throughout life. Catherine had a vision of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary who gave her to Jesus in mystical marriage.

On reaching adulthood, Catherine visited the Roman Emperor Maxentius and tried to convince him of his moral errors in persecuting Christians who refused to worship pagan gods. In response, the emperor asked his best pagan orators and philosophers to debate on the issue with Catherine. She defeated them in the debate and converted them to Christianity. But, enraged at this, Maxentius executed all the converted philosophers and orators and tortured Catherine by imprisoning her.

During her imprisonment, over two hundred people, reportedly, visited her, including Empress Valeria Maximilla (wife of Maxentius) and all of them too converted to Christianity. The emperor responded to the conversions by executing all of the converted people.

Convinced that imprisonment and torture did not change Catherine’s views, the emperor tried to win over her by proposing to marry her. But she told him that she had consecrated her virginity to Jesus Christ. Upon this, the emperor sentenced her to death on the breaking wheel (also known as the Catherine wheel), a torture device used for capital punishment. But, miraculously, the wheel was destroyed and Maxentius had to order her beheading in 305 AD.

According to some traditions, angels carried her body to Mount Sinai where, Emperor Justinian (483-565, the Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565) built the Saint Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula at the foot of Mount Sinai (now in the city of Saint Catherine in Egypt). In fact, it was dedicated to the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, an event in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant atop a mountain.

Over the years, the monastery has become an important pilgrimage center and repository of early Christian architecture and art that is open to visiting scholars and tourists.

Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus at children's party

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:25:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: Members of the Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) committee aboard USS Bataan enact Santa Claus, Mrs. Santa Claus and their elves at the children's holiday party held at Haygood Skating Center - Virginia Beach, Va. (4 Dec 2007), U.S. Navy photo by Stephen Oleksiak

Rubens: The Adoration of the Magi

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:46:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ (1633-1634), oil on canvas painting by Peter Paul Rubens, 328 cm x 247 cm, located at King's College Chapel, Cambridge, England, UK.

The Adoration of the Magi, the oil painting by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), depicts the Biblical episode as is given in the Gospel of Matthew's (2:11) in which ‘Three Wise Men’, or ‘wise men from the East’ visits the newborn Jesus Christ, though the number of men is not mentioned in Matthew's account.

Traditionally, ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ in art, refers to the Nativity of Jesus and the visit of the Three Magi, who followed a star to find Jesus and visited him with gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold and worshipped him. The Orthodox Church celebrates The Adoration of the Magi on the Feast of the Nativity (on Christmas day, December 25). The significance of the visit of the Biblical Magi is often taken to represent that from birth Jesus Christ was recognized as king of the earth.

Santa Claus Village Amusement Park

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:55:00 +0000

Public Doman Photo: Santa Claus Village Amusement Park, Arctic Circle, Finland

The Santa Claus Village is an amusement park located 2 km from the Rovaniemi Airport in the Lapland region of Finland. The significance of the park is that the Arctic Circle passes right through it. It is a very popular photo spot for tourists because the moment you cross a white line marked in the village, denoting the Arctic Circle, you have entered the Arctic area.

There are many interesting tourist attractions in Santa Claus Village, including the Santa Claus's Office where visitors can chat with Santa and take photos with him during ‘office hours’, and several shops and restaurants where you can purchase souvenirs and other items related to Santa Claus.

Gustav Klimt: Litzlberg am Attersee

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:43:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: Litzlberg am Attersee (Litzberg on the Attersee) oil painting of 1914-1915 by Gustav Klimt

Yet another Nazi-looted Gustav Klimt painting ‘Litzlberg am Attersee’(Litzberg on the Attersee), the image of which can be seen above fetched $40.4m at an auction at Sotheby's in New York in November 2011, after it was returned to the rightful owner by the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria.

Litzlberg am Attersee, painted in 1914-1915 by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), features the scenes on the shores of Lake Attersee in Austria. Litzlberg is an island of the lake.

Since 1900, during the summers, Klimt usually visited a château at Litzlberg in Lake Attersee (also known as the Kammersee), the largest lake of the Salzkammergut area of Austria.

The landscape, inspired by pointillism and painted just before Klimt’s death, shows his perfect mastery of color and visual imagery through dots and brushstrokes, though it is just a routine painting that he used to produce during his visits of Attersee. Klimt is reported to have painted over fifty landscapes, mostly inspired by the area around Lake Attersee, especially in the last years of his life.

During the Second World War, the Nazis looted ‘Litzlberg am Attersee’ from the house of the Austrian Jewish woman Amalie Redlich after deporting her to Poland in October 1941. She was later killed in a Nazi concentration camp. Georges Jorisch, her ten-year-old grandson, escaped from Vienna with his father when the Nazis captured the city. The young Jorisch and his father had to spend two years in a cellar in Brussels, hiding, to escape capture by the Nazis.

After 1941, the Salzburg-based art collector and dealer Friedrich Welz the acquired the painting. Later he exchanged it against another work of art with Salzburg’s modern art museum (Museum der Moderne Salzburg).

Recently, Jorisch, who retired as a camera shop manager in Montreal, Canada, succeeded in convincing Museum der Moderne Salzburg that he is the lawful sole heir to ‘Litzberg on the Attersee’ which once had hung on the wall of the apartment of his grandmother Amalie Redlich.

The museum returned the painting, which had an estimated value of €30m (£26m) then, to Jorish in early 2011, but, after Jorisch promised to donate €1.3m (£1.1m) to the museum to construct an extension which would be named after Amalie Redlich. In November 2011, at an auction at Sotheby's in New York, the landscape painting was bought by the Zurich-based art dealer David Lachenmann on behalf of an anonymous client.

The return of this painting by the museum reminds one of the history of the seven-year long legal battle fought by the late Maria Altmann (18 Feb 1916 – 7 Feb 2011) against the Austrian government, claiming five Gustav Klimt paintings belonging to her family and looted by the Nazis. She finally won the case and retrieved the paintings which were sold in auction for a total of $327m for the five paintings, making it the most expensive single lot return of Nazi-looted art by Austria.

ISS Expedition 16 crew members pose for Christmas photo in Zvezda

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:27:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: International Space Station’s Expedition 16 crew members (from left) Russian cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko (flight engineer), US astronauts Peggy A. Whitson (commander) and Daniel Tani (flight engineer) pose for Christmas photos in the Zvezda Service Module on 25 December 2007 - Source: NASA

El Greco: The Disrobing of Christ (El Espolio)

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:57:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: The Disrobing of Christ (El Espolio), oil on canvas painting (1577-1579) by Spanish artist El Greco, 173 cm (68.1 in) x 285 cm (112.2 in), located at Sacristy of the Cathedral, Toledo, Spain.

The oil painting titled ‘The Disrobing of Christ (El Expolio)’ was created between 1577 and 1579 by the Spanish Renaissance artist El Greco (1541-1614) for the High Altar of the Sacristy of the Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo, Spain, where it is located now.

The painting features Jesus Christ in a bright red robe gazing at the Heaven amidst a violent crowd of people who are about to crucify him. A man points an accusing finger at Christ, while two others are arguing, and some others are making disturbing gestures and creating chaos all around. While Christ, the dominating central figure is in a serene composure, a person wearing a green dress holds a rope tied to Christ’s right hand, while trying to disrobe him for his crucifixion. Another man in yellow and white dress drills a hole on the cross for driving a nail through one of Christ's hands.

Apart from the usual crucifixion scene figures, El Greco also painted The Three Marys (Mary of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, often considered the same woman as the disciple Salome), who are featured in distress and contemplating on the unfolding unbearable scene of crucifixion of Jesus.

While The Disrobing of Christ is considered one of El Greco’s most famous works, some art writers and critics consider it his masterpiece. The painting was highly acclaimed and over 17 versions of it are known to exist, some in reduced sizes and other versions painted by El Greco himself.

However, the Cathedral authorities did not appreciate the painting very much, mainly because of the depiction of The Three Marys in the painting and for painting the heads of other people above the head of Jesus. Reportedly they refused El Greco payment for his work and the artist had to go to arbitration after which he was awarded part payment of his claim.

Angkor Wat style sculpture of a goddess

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 23:52:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: Late 9th century Angkor Wat style sandstone sculpture of a Goddess (Apsara) from Bakong (Siem Reap Province) in Cambodia; currently located at the Guimet Museum (Musée Guimet), Paris.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir: La loge (The Theater Box)

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:18:00 +0000

Public Domain Painting: La loge (The Theater Box), an 1874 oil on canvas painting by the French Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, dimensions 80 cm x 63.5 cm (31 in x 25.0 in), from the collection of Courtauld Institute of Art Galleries, London. The Theater Box is considered one of the masterpieces of Renoir.

Bellydancers on a Nile Cruise ship

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:22:00 +0000

PD Photo: A version of the original Arab dance, Raqs Sharqi, performed by two female bellydancers on a Nile Cruise ship.

The photo features two dancers performing what the western world initially (and later the rest of the world) called Belly Dance (or Bellydance). It is actually the traditional ‘Middle Eastern’ dance, Raqs Sharqi, which is also known as Arabic dance or known as çiftetelli, the Greco-Turkish name. Unlike the name belly dance suggests, the dancer has to involve all parts of the body for the true performance of this dance, not merely belly, though the most visible movement can be seen around the hips.

Belly dance can have various styles, costumes, etc., depending on the region or country where it is performed or where such varied forms of dance evolved. As with every branch of performing arts, and dance, new styles, improvements and innovations keep on changing this form of dance too.

Raqs sharqi, in Arabic language literally means ‘Dance of the Near East’ and it is the dance form usually identified as belly dance by westerners. And new styles have evolved in the West as its popularity has spread globally. And it is the style that is usually performed on stage, cabarets and in restaurants. Though mostly female performers are seen performing is such places, originally the dance form was meant for both the sexes, and it is performed even now by male dancers. Also, though it is often seen as a solo dance performance, the dance form is meant for also groups of men and women and can be choreographed for more than one dancer.

Te folk dance form, performed by the common people in the Middle East countries and in North Africa, usually at festive, or social occasions such as weddings, is called Raqs baladi, which in Arabic means ‘dance of the country’ or ‘folk dance’.

The dance form is believed to have evolved in Egypt among Arab tribes who initially settled there. However, belly dancers are not well regarded as many Egyptians do not treat it as a respectable profession. So, most belly dancers performing for tourists in Cruise ships (as in the photo), or at restaurants in present times are non-Egyptians. This fact can be evident from the fact that the traditional Egyptian Sharqi costumes are designed to cover most of the body.

Malin Sundström with a Jack-o'-lantern

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:06:00 +0000

Public Domain Image: Malin Sundström of Caramell group with a Jack-o'-lantern (carved pumpkin) for the Halloween on 31 October 1998; image creator: F.U.S.I.A., Café Opera, Stockholm, Sweden.

Girls of Gbogolo collecting water from a pond

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:31:00 +0000

PD Photo: Young girls from Gbogolo (or Gbogholo or Bogolo Bogholo), a village commune in Séguéla, one of the two Departments in the Worodougou Region of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), collect water from a muddy pond

Painting of a bison on Altamira Cave ceiling in Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:13:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: Altamira Cave, located near Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, 30 km west of the city of Santander in Spain, is famous for its European Upper Paleolithic (also called Late Stone Age, for the period broadly between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago) cave art comprising paintings, drawings and polychrome rock paintings depicting wild animals and human hands. The cave along with its paintings has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Council of Trent

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:02:00 +0000

The Council of Trent, fresco by Italian artist Pasquale Cati (1550-1620), Altemps chapel, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome

The Council of Trent was the Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church convened in Trent in the Holy Roman Empire (now Italy) between 1545 and 1563 in 25 sessions. The council fathers met in Trent (sessions 1-8, 1545-7) and in Bologna (sessions 9-11, 1547) during the pontificate of Pope Paul III, and in Trent (sessions 12-16, 1551-52) under Pope Julius III, and in Trent (sessions 17-25, 1559-63) under Pope Pius IV.

The council issued important reform decrees, defined Church teachings on the scripture and traditions, sacraments, original sin, justification, the veneration of saints and condemnations on heresies, among many other important matters concerning the Catholic Church.

18th Century Savonnerie Carpets

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:54:00 +0000

Savonnerie carpets (Savonnerie tapisserie) were the finest of the knotted-pile carpets produced at the Savonnerie manufactory which was established in a former soap factory near Paris in 1615 by Pierre Dupont. In 1627 Louis XIII granted a patent (privilege) of eighteen years to Dupont and his former apprentice Simon Lourdet to produce these carpets. Under the agreement, until 1768 these carpets were exclusively the property of the French Crown.

These carpets were made of a mixture of wool and a small quantity of silk and had about ninety knots to the square inch. Though the initially produced carpets were imitations of Persian carpets, gradually the Savonnerie style evolved incorporating French designs by renowned artists of the time. The designs of the carpets typically had plants, floral designs and medallions woven against attractive backgrounds of black, deep blue or brown colors and often had multiple borders.

Statue of Athena and Marsyas in Botanic Garden, Copenhagen

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 19:32:00 +0000

Public Doman Photo: Statue of Athena and Marsyas, a recreation of a lost bronze by Athenian sculptor Myron of Eleutherae (480-440 BC) in Botanic Garden, Copenhagen, Denmark.

The theme of the statue is based on the Greek mythological story of Marsyas, who was an expert in playing the Aulos, a double-piped reed musical instrument. According to myths, he found Aulos on the ground where Athena, its inventor had thrown it away.

Jean-Balthazar Keller: Adonis, bronze sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:26:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: Adonis,a bronze sculpture inspired by an antique sculpture from the French royal collections, created by the Swiss sculptor and gunfounder Jean-Balthazar Keller (1638-1702), cast in 1687, dimensions H: 1.62 m (5 ft. 3 ¾ in.), W: 70 cm (27 ½ in.), located at Louvre Museum, Paris.

Tanagra Figurine: Lady in blue (Dame en bleu)

noreply@blogger.com (Krishna Pillai) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:29:00 +0000

Public Domain Photo: Lady in Blue, painted terracotta figurine of the type Large Herculaneum Woman, Tanagra Figurine dating 330 to 300 BC, height 32.5 cm (12 ¾ in.), Louvre Museum, Paris

The Lady in blue (Dame en Bleu) is a terracotta figurine that used to be produced in Tanagra, a town north of Athens in Greece from the later part of 4th century BC. They were often painted with natural colors, and were about 4 to 8 inches tall.

Tanagra figures were discovered by ploughmen of Vratsi in Boeotia, Greece by the end of the 1860s when they dug up ancient tombs. The largest collection of figurines were found in 1874 from the tombs of the Hellenistic period, which shows that the city was the main source of these figures which were also exported to distant places.