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Source Description

This red fleshy face with a large bulbous nose and pointed ears belong to Silenus, a mythological creature with human and beast-like elements. A companion of Dionysus, Silenus is cloaked here in a white animal skin with the paws tied at the throat. His equine ears contrast to his otherwise human facial features. His balding head is framed on either side by curling black tendrils that meet the full, long beard set around his parted lips. The roofs of Etruscan temples were highly decorated. This representation of Silenus was part of an antefix, a decorative tile that was utilized at the eaves and central ridge of a roof in classical architecture. Standing almost perpendicular to the adjoining roof tile, this antefix was likely circled by a plaque shaped like a clam shell that may have had decoration in relief, such as palmettes or lotus flowers, and was painted red, white, blue, and black. Such architectural ornaments were made in molds, allowing for artisans to produce multiple identical antefixes to adorn the temple’s roof.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
23608
label
Antefix with Head of Silenus
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
7
Source metadata
id
23608
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Antefix with Head of Silenus
description
This red fleshy face with a large bulbous nose and pointed ears belong to Silenus, a mythological creature with human and beast-like elements. A companion of Dionysus, Silenus is cloaked here in a white animal skin with the paws tied at the throat. His equine ears contrast to his otherwise human facial features. His balding head is framed on either side by curling black tendrils that meet the full, long beard set around his parted lips. The roofs of Etruscan temples were highly decorated. This representation of Silenus was part of an antefix, a decorative tile that was utilized at the eaves and central ridge of a roof in classical architecture. Standing almost perpendicular to the adjoining roof tile, this antefix was likely circled by a plaque shaped like a clam shell that may have had decoration in relief, such as palmettes or lotus flowers, and was painted red, white, blue, and black. Such architectural ornaments were made in molds, allowing for artisans to produce multiple identical antefixes to adorn the temple’s roof.
provenance
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
4th century BCE (Classical)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Ceramics
antefixes
tiles
imageCount
7
pageCount
7
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
32
height
30
depth
11
dimensionsRaw
H: 12 5/8 x W: 11 13/16 x D: 4 5/16 in. (32 x 30 x 11 cm)
Source extras
cul
Etruscan
med
terracotta, mold made; traces of paint
creator_ids
6291
collection_ids
ROM
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
4331f1ac673c48eb
hasOcr
no
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no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
d32f955800569d93
hasOcr
no
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no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
c40030534e3312f0
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
045505b4d130d2ca
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
5
type
photo
mediaId
7a46fdf4db678237
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
6
type
photo
mediaId
371c8b132563f414
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
7
type
photo
mediaId
bb89f96264764926
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no