Terracotta antefix

ca. 500 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 157
The roofs of substantial buildings in classical Athens were covered with overlapping tiles. Antefixes were the outermost tiles, often decorated with floral or figural motifs. These examples are said to have come from a small structure on the Athenian Akropolis. The palmettes are variants of those that appear on contemporary vases.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta antefix
  • Period: Archaic
  • Date: ca. 500 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: H.: 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm)
  • Classification: Terracottas
  • Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1926
  • Object Number: 26.60.13
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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