SculptureGreek6th-5th century BCE

Arula

c. 510 BCE-490 BCE

Description

Greek, Sicilian or South Italian. Mold-made relief. Yellow-gray calcium carbonate deposit obscures surface. Much of top and bottom profiles broken. No trace of fire or other sacrifical use on top. This rectangular "arula", or small altar, has concave sides and simple projecting profiles at top and bottom. On the top left profile are two squares of meander pattern. The front shows, under an arching vine, a silen walking to the right, looking back, with a tall-handled kantharos in his extended right hand and a branch in his left. He is followed by a horse carrying a maenad and a small silen or satyr. His right foot is human, his left equine or incomplete. The maenad, dressed in an overgirt "chiton" rather than the customary tight "peplos," seems to drop the reins from her raised left hand as she glides off the horse. Her bent right arm is intertwined with the left arm of a small satyr, who clutches the tail of the horse with his right hand. He has a short, erect penis. The horse, with arching neck, paws the ground as a cheetah passes under his nose, chasing a hare that looks back over its shoulder.

Classification

Sculpture

Technique

Mold-made

Medium

Terracotta, tan porous clay with large particles of brick-red grog

Culture

Greek

Period

Archaic period

Century

6th-5th century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

H. 18 x W. 35 x D.15 cm (7 1/16 x 13 3/4 x 5 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Dr. Philip Lederer, Berlin. to Charles L. Moreley. to Frederick M. Watkins,1963, bequest; to The Fogg Art Museum, 1972.

Related Artworks

Sculpture

Standing Saddled Horse with Clipped Mane, Cropped and Tied Tail, and Roman-Style Bridle Ornaments

Unknown Artist, probably 2nd century

Lead-glazed ware: Molded, brick red earthenware with lead-fluxed, caramel brown glaze, the detachable, unglazed tail and saddle molded in brick red earthenware, the detachable, unglazed ears molded in gray earthenware, the unglazed elements displaying traces of cold-painted pigments. Probably from the Chengdu region of Sichuan province.

2nd century CEChinese