Marble relief of a horseman

Unknown

1st century BCE · Marble, Parian ? · Greek and Roman Art

This relief of a pacing horse with a nude rider is a tour de force of almost excessively sensitive surface texture and exaggerated anatomical detail. Decorative showiness takes precedence over organic unity, in a style often found in classicizing works of the first century B.C. The piece may copy one that was well-known in antiquity, for two others are preserved that show an almost identical horseman followed by another rider on a horse with the same pacing gait.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st century BCE

Medium

Marble, Parian ?

Culture

Greek

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1907