Horses were closely associated with the wealthy, land-owning class that could afford to raise and maintain them. Statues of horses and riders were sometimes offered as dedications at sanctuaries of the gods, such as that of Athena on the Akropolis in Athens and that of Demeter at Eleusis.
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Pigment remains on the marble surface are analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.
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Visible-induced infrared luminescence image stacked on visible-light image, showing Egyptian blue in the mane
Micrograph of the Egyptian blue pigment found on the mane, showing its various constituents (top) and a backscattered electron image collected by the scanning electron microscope (bottom) of a black ferrite particle containing copper and cobalt.
Micrograph of the pigment found in the horse’s right eye, showing blue particles of lazurite and fine red hematite surrounded by fine white calcite particles, quartz and other accessory phases.
Artwork Details
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Eleusis Museum, Greece, 1908; [Until 1930, with Emmanuel (Manolis) Segredakis, Paris]; [July 16, 1930, purchased by Joseph Brummer from E. Segredakis]; [1930-1947, with Joseph Brummer, New York (P7155)]; May 27, 1947, acquired by Walter Cummings Baker, purchased from Joseph Brummer; 1947-1972, collection of Walter C. baker, New York; acquired in 1972, bequest of Walter C. Baker.
von Bothmer, Dietrich and René d'Harnoncourt. 1950. Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities: An Exhibition from the Collection of Walter Cummings Baker, Esq. no. 54, p. 10, pl. 16, New York: Walter Cummings Baker.
von Bothmer, Dietrich. 1961. Ancient Art from New York Private Collections: Catalogue of an Exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 17, 1959–February 28, 1960. no. 107, p. 26, pls. 32–33, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1980. The Horses of San Marco: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 1-June 1, 1980, New York. no. 5, p. 3, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. Greece and Rome. no. 18, p. 33, 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. 76, pp. 79, 420, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lazzarini, Lorenzo and Clemente Marconi. 2014. "A New Analysis of Major Greek Sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum: Petrological and Stylistic." Metropolitan Museum Journal, 49: pp. 118, 120, 130, 138–39, fig. 2, Appendix.
Caro, Federico and Elena Basso. 2025. "In Search of Ancient Pigments : The contribution of scientific research to Chroma : Ancient Sculpture in Color." Chroma : Sculpture in Color from Antiquity to Today, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Symposia, Seán Hemingway, Sarah Lepinski, and Vinzenz Brinkmann, eds. p. 59, figs. 2, 7a, b, 8a, b, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
