Head of a horse.
Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum
A 122
Head of a horse from Epidauros. Athens
Under life-size head of a horse. From the west pediment (depicting an Amazonomachy) of the Temple of Asklepios at Epidauros ca. 375 BC.
Marble (Pentelic)
Pedimental Figure
L 24.5 cm, H 13.8 cm
From the Temple of Asklepios at Epidauros. Found in the sanctuary before official excavations took place by a farmer.
Greece, Athens, National Museum, 143
ca. 375-370 BC
Preservation:The head is broken diagonally from under the cheek up to the neck. It is also broken vertically through the muzzle; the break cuts through the back of the mouth which appears to have been open. The right ear is chipped. The head features five small holes for the attachment of a bronze bridle. Each cheek has a hole at the center and a hole behind the mouth. The fifth hole is located in the center of the forehead.
Description:The fragment depicts an under life-size head of horse. The horse featured a metal bridle that was plugged into small holes on the face.
The head has flat cheeks, once covered by an added decorative element, and bulging eyes. The eyes have heavy upper lids and are large round convex surfaces. At the bottom of the horizontal break through the muzzle the back of the mouth is visible; the jaws were open. The right ear was pressed back or in movement whereas the thick left ear stands erect and is hollowed out. Between the ears is a forelock of hair that is separate from the mane. The locks on the right of this forelock spring upward, to the left, and then curve back to the right. The mane itself is divided into to two parallel flat ridges that run down the back of the neck. The hair on the outside of the right half of the mane is delineated. It rises in parallel locks that are denoted by shallow grooves. Both the right ear and the right side of the mane are more carefully worked than their left-hand counterparts.
Discussion:This horse’s head comes from the west pediment of the Temple of Asklepios at Epidauros. The temple was constructed ca. 380-370 BC, and its pediments featured an amazonomachy (on the west side) and the sack of Troy (on the east side). The amazonomachy on the west side was composed of seventeen figures which showed amazons in short dresses, often on horseback, fighting against nude male warriors. For general information on the temple, see cat. no. A 121; for more information on the west pediment, see cat. no. A 169; and for other fragments from the pediments, see cat. nos. A 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, and 168.
The horse’s head turns upwards in excitement and its mouth is open. It is one of four preserved horses from the west pediment. The best preserved horse is that ridden by the central amazon of the pediment, cat. no. A 169. Like that horse, this horse moved from the viewer’s left to right and was to be seen in profile. The left side of the horse’s face is clearly not finished to the same degree as the right side which faced the viewer. The horse, again like that of cat no. A 169, features holes for the addition of metal ornaments. Because of its size and movement, Yalouris assigns the horse to an amazon-warrior group directly behind (to the viewer’s left) the pediment’s central riding and striking amazon, cat. no. A 169. He believes that a torso fragment of riding amazon as well as plinth fragment should be associated with this horse.
J. Lenaghan
Bibliography:J. Crome,
Die Skulpturen des Asklepiostempels von Epidauros (Berlin 1951) 35, no. 13, pl. 19
brief catalogue entryN. Yalouris,
Die Skulpturen des Asklepiostempels in Epidauros (AntPl 21 1992) 58, no. 170, pl. 37a-c
full catalogue entry, places in context of pediment
