Acroterion with winged horse. Cerveteri, 500 - 475 B.C., polychrome terracotta. Gregorian Etruscan M

Acroterion with winged horse. Cerveteri, 500 - 475 B.C., polychrome terracotta. Gregorian Etruscan Museum. 

“At the right end of the triangular pediment of a temple, against the background of the final slab covering the lateral beam of the tympanum, the animal emerges in clear relief, in the act of taking flight, with its front hooves worked in the round and silhouetted against the sky. A sober polychrome decoration, expertly alternated with unembellished areas, defines the details of the figure and qualifies the surface, decorated with scales. The horse would originally have been harnessed with a bit, possibly made of bronze.” (x)

[id: photo of the acroterion described above, which depicts the head, neck, and wing of a winged horse.]