SculptureItalic6th century BCE

Fragment of architectural plaque: horses (from frieze depicting chariot race)

c. 520 BCE

Description

Fragment of a molded terracotta plaque, broken on all sides. Flat on the back. A great deal of brown dirt or accretion in the crevices. Two overlapping horses, facing right. The frontmost horse has a hogged mane; its right ear is upright. The break cuts across its apparently open mouth. A bridle is faintly discernable; more visible is a harness across the horse’s neck, reins (taking the form of four ridges) that stretch to the left; and a rope harness (as a thin rounded ridge) that hangs from the harness on the horse’s back down to behind the forelegs; a loop hangs about one-third of the way down. Below the horse’s belly is a shape truncated by the break. Comparison with the fuller scene indicates that this is the ears and upper part of the head of a dog. A tapering horizontal element intersects the horse’s chest: comparison to fuller scenes from this mold suggest that this is the tail of a horse further to the right in the scene. The second, further-away horse is discernible from its eye (above and to the right of the frontmost horse) and its chest (to the right of that of the frontmost horse), from which its legs spring to the right but are truncated by the break. Above, a horizontal band (square in section) with a thin, rounded vertical ridge projecting upwards.

Classification

Sculpture

Technique

Mold-made

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Italic

Period

Archaic period

Century

6th century BCE