Artwork Page for Antefix in the Form of a Maiden

Details / Information for Antefix in the Form of a Maiden

Antefix in the Form of a Maiden

late 500s–early 400s BCE

Etruscan

Medium
Painted terracotta
Measurements
height: 21.9 cm (8 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Barbara S. Robinson and Family 2024.56
Public Domain
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Location
102D Pre-Roman
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Did You Know?

Much Etruscan architectural sculpture was molded terracotta rather than carved stone.

Description

Staring out with almond-shaped eyes and enigmatic smile, this brightly painted female head hides a rounded back made to serve an important function. She is a molded terracotta antefix, made to cap an open-ended roof tile along the sloping edge of a wooden building. Depending on the size of the structure it adorned, this antefix may have sat alongside dozens of others, likely all similar in form and painted decoration, and perhaps accompanied by additional polychrome architectural sculpture. Sometimes identified as maenads, the female followers of Dionysos (Etruscan Fufluns), such figures might also be nymphs or anonymous maidens.
A vertically oriented terracotta sculpture depicts a maiden's head facing us from the shoulders up. Her cream-toned face features large, black-outlined eyes and a small red mouth. A semicircular frame with radiating red and black stripes surrounds the head. Black hair falls in wavy strands past large circular earrings. Centered above a chipped, uneven base, the figure wears a reddish garment visible at the neck.

Antefix in the Form of a Maiden

late 500s–early 400s BCE

Etruscan

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