Terracotta statuette of a horseman

Terracotta statuette of a horseman

Description:

Numerous equestrian figurines have been found on Cyprus; they represent a variety of figures, including the Dioskouroi, Amazons, and Phrygian riders. This example appears to depict a horseman in Persian dress, similar to that shown on the famous Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun at Pompeii.


7 3/16 × 6 1/8 × 2 5/16 in. (18.3 × 15.6 × 5.9 cm)

Period:

Hellenistic

Date:

299 - 200 BC

Collection:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance:

Said to be from the temple of Apollo Hylates at Kourion, Cyprus

References:

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 2. pl. LXXIII.665, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1895. The Terracottas and Pottery of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in Halls 4 and 15. no. 397, p. 33, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Winter, Franz. 1903. Die antiken terra-cotten im auftrag des Archäologischen instituts des Deutschen reichs: Die Typen der figürlichen Terrakotten, Vol. 3(2). no. 6, p. 300, Stuttgart: Deutsches Archaologisches Institut.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 2300, p. 361, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.McClees, Helen and Christine Alexander. 1933. The Daily Life of the Greeks and Romans: As Illustrated in the Classical Collections, 5th ed. p. 11, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Riis, P. J. 1942. "A Horseman Figurine from Syria." Acta Archaeologica p. 203.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 439, pp. 272-73, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 301, pp. 260, 466, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Gloria Merker, and Joan R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Terracottas. no. 295, pp. 173-74, 262, Online Publication, [CD-Rom 2004], New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Casagrande-Kim, Roberta. 2018. Romance and Reason : Islamic Transformations of the Classical Past. no. 7, pp. 121-22, New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University.

Accession Number:

74.51.1665