Terracotta antefix with the head of Medusa
The head of the Gorgon Medusa, known as a gorgoneion, was a popular motif for terracotta antefixes, ornamental covers used to conceal the ends of tiles along the edge of a roof. Antefixes of this type were especially pervasive in Sicily and southern Italy. During the Archaic period, Medusa was depicted as a monstrous creature with wide eyes and a fierce grin, a type exemplified by the antefix. The exaggerated features and the remarkably well- preserved white, black, and red polychromy would have allowed this face, repeated on multiple antefixes, to be seen by viewers on the ground.
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