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Primary sourcePainting

Skizze der Baubo

Sigmund Freud

Freud's own sketch of an ancient terracotta figurine, linked to the mythological figure Baubo, reflecting his interest in antiquities and symbolism.

This is Freud's own sketch, showing how his antiquities collecting fed into his theories of symbolism.

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Black-and-white line drawing on white background of a squatting figure with a round face with eyes, nose and mouth, a bulbous rounded top to the head, bent arms raised toward the head, and a long tapering lower body.
Sigmund Freud, sketch of a Baubo figurine. Based on a terracotta figure in the Antikensammlung Berlin.

About this source

What it is

This is a line drawing made by Sigmund Freud himself, sketching an ancient terracotta figure found at Priene and now held in the Antikensammlung Berlin. The figure has been identified by Freud and others with the mythological figure Baubo.

Why it matters

Freud was a serious collector of ancient artifacts, and his interest went beyond ownership — he studied and sketched objects like this one to explore their symbolic meaning. Baubo is a figure associated with earthy, bodily humor in myth, and Freud's attention to such imagery connects to his theories about symbolism and the unconscious.

Look closer

  • Why might Freud, a psychoanalyst, have been interested in sketching an ancient figurine like this?
  • What does the squatting pose and exposed body of the figure suggest about its original meaning?
  • How does making your own sketch of an object differ from simply owning or photographing it?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sigmund Freud on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Primary source

Sigmund Freud's Voice (BBC Broadcast Recording, 1938)

Sigmund Freud · 27 December 1938

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