ART WIKI 32,963 on view

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ART WIKI

Where the masterpiece hangs, and when they let you in.

Collections: Art Institute of Chicago, Getty Villa, Harvard Art Museums, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, J. Paul Getty Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Musée du Louvre, National Gallery of Art, National Museum of Asian Art, National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian), Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Rijksmuseum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, SMK — National Gallery of Denmark, State Hermitage Museum, State Russian Museum, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Tretyakov Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, State Catalogue of the Museum Fund of Russia (274 museums), Europeana (19 museums), Wikidata (6 museums), Paris Musées (12 museums), and Joconde, the French Ministry of Culture's museum database (495 museums). Images belong to their rights holders.

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Collection
Art Institute of Chicago
Male Figure

Male Figure, Dogon, Possibly 18th century

Male Figure

Possibly 18th century · Sculpture

May one see it?

Not receiving at present

Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 3 days ago
In this state since: Sep 28, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the sculpture

Made for a large altar honoring ancestors, this figure’s crusty surface resulted from repeated ritual applications of sacrificial materials including animal blood, millet porridge, plant juice, and oil, infusing it with a vital energy. Its braided hairstyle, thin beard, amulet-pendant, and ritual staff (on his left shoulder) suggest that this figure portrays a high-ranking man. The extremely dry environment of the cave where it was stored helped to preserve it.

Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0

Particulars

Accession number: 1996.41

What it shows

Figures (representations)Sacrifice Ritual Status Altar Ancestors

In the catalog

Sculpture Wood Dogon Arts of Africa African Art Northern Africa and the Sahel Mali

Sources

Art Institute of Chicago
Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0

More by Dogon

Miniature Male Figure, Dogon, 19th/mid–20th century

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Serrure en forme d'animal., Dogon, 20e siècle

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Masque Kanaga, Dogon, 20e siècle

Masque Kanaga

Musée de Sens

Maternité, Dogon

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Neighbors at Art Institute of Chicago

The Bedroom, Vincent van Gogh, 1889

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A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884, Georges Seurat, 1884–86, border added 1888–89

Georges Seurat

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884–86, border added 1888–89

Paris Street; Rainy Day, Gustave Caillebotte, 1877

Gustave Caillebotte

Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877

Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881

The Basket of Apples, Paul Cézanne, c. 1893

Paul Cézanne

The Basket of Apples, c. 1893

Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), Claude Monet, 1890–91

Claude Monet

Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), 1890–91

American Gothic, Grant Wood, 1930

Grant Wood

American Gothic, 1930

Nighthawks, Edward Hopper, 1942

Edward Hopper

Nighthawks, 1942