Horseman
A young rider is represented, without saddle, reining in his horse. He must have held a whip in his right hand, and the reins in his left. He wears a kiton and a chlamys fastened on his right shoulder, a petasos, and sandals. The horse rears up on its hind legs, its forelegs extended well forward and its neck arched back. The dynamic of the composition, based upon and suffused by the contrasting strengths of horse and rider, is developed in even the slightest details.
This harmony of freedom and constraint is characteristic of Greek classicism of about 400 BC.
On the right corner, behind a small altar, a standing youth wrapped in his cloack, greets the rider raising his hand.
In format, this small relief belongs to the class of funerary.
Greek funerary marble relief
late 5th or early 4th cent. BC
Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Profano
Horseman
A young rider is represented, without saddle, reining in his horse. He must have held a whip in his right hand, and the reins in his left. He wears a kiton and a chlamys fastened on his right shoulder, a petasos, and sandals. The horse rears up on its hind legs, its forelegs extended well forward and its neck arched back. The dynamic of the composition, based upon and suffused by the contrasting strengths of horse and rider, is developed in even the slightest details.
This harmony of freedom and constraint is characteristic of Greek classicism of about 400 BC.
On the right corner, behind a small altar, a standing youth wrapped in his cloack, greets the rider raising his hand.
In format, this small relief belongs to the class of funerary.
Greek funerary marble relief
late 5th or early 4th cent. BC
Vatican Museums, Museo Gregoriano Profano