Building or zone: Urban area south of Romanelli Gate
Roof element: Antefixes, heads
Comparanda: 5045, 5046, 5049, 2595, 2595bis, Philadelphia, University Museum Inv. MS 1823 or 1828(?).
Remarks: Acheloos head antefix preserves all of the head, none of the frame except for a torus across the top of the head. The hair across the forehead falls in vertical strands ending in curls, covering most of the forehead, flanked at either side by knobs probably representing horns, and erect animal ears. The eyes are large and bulbous with black lids and red-brown irises. The cheeks are mostly covered by the beard that falls in neatly sculpted flat strands, curving towards the center at the bottom. A long moustache frames the upper lip and reaches almost to the side edges of the beard. Below the mouth is a pappus, overlapping the main beard. Rounded cover tile attached at bottom of plaque. Above, behind hair, hollowed slightly.
Bibliography: Romanelli 1948, p. 238, no. 5, fig. 11d; Andrén 1940, p. 67, no. I:5; Cataldi 1993, p. 214, no. 40, fig. 31; Scavo nello scavo 2004, pp. 78-79, no. I.e.10; Winter 2006c, p.135, fig. 22
Publication record: Architectural terracottas from Etrusco-Italic Temples. Author: Andrén, A.. Place of publication: Lund/Leipzig. Publication Date: 1939-1940 Le terrecotte architettoniche arcaiche di Tarquinia: scambi e modelli. Author: Winter, N.A.. Journal and volume number: Tarquinia e le civiltà del Mediterraneo. Place of publication: Milano. Publication Date: 2006. Pages: 127-144 Scavo nello scavo. Gli Etruschi non visti. Author: Moretti Sgubini, A.M.. Place of publication: Viterbo. Publication Date: 2004 Tarquinia. Scavi e ricerche nell'area della città. Author: Romanelli, P.. Journal and volume number: NSc. Publication Date: 1948. Pages: 193-270 Terrecotte arcaiche e tardo-arcaiche da Tarquinia. Author: Cataldi, M.. Journal and volume number: Deliciae Fictiles. Place of publication: Stockholm. Publication Date: 1993. Pages: 207-220
Type of decoration: Acheloos head
Last Recorded Collection: Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Mouldmade: yes
Height: 15.5
Width: 14.1
Clay: 10YR 7/3
Paint: Black hair, eyes, beard. Brown-red irises 2.5YR 5/6. White skin 10YR 7/3.
