Etruscan Antefix with the Head of Silenus in the Walters Art Museum, September 2009

Antefix with Head of Silenus


Creator: Etruscan (Artist)

Period: 4th century BC

Medium: terracotta with traces of paint (Ceramics)

Accession Number: 48.354

Measurements: H: 12 5/8 x W: 11 13/16 x D: 4 5/16 in. (32 x 30 x 11 cm)

Geographies: Cerveteri, Italy (?) (Place of Origin)

An antefix is the decorative end of a roof tile. This one depicts a balding Silenus, a mythological creature that is half man, half beast. He has pointed goat's ears, a fleshy face with a large, bulbous nose, and wears an animal-skin cloak knotted under his long beard. Made in a mold, it was originally framed in a shell-shaped plaque and painted red, white, and black.

Text from: art.thewalters.org/detail/23608/antefix-with-head-of-sile...