Relief Sculpture: Winged Horses of Tarquinia - Tarquinia, Lazio, Italy

Winged Horses of Tarquinia

Tarquinia

Lazio, Italy

N 42° 15.216 E 011° 45.346

Short Description: 

Winged Horses of Tarquinia, considered to be the epitome of Etruscan Art, are on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia located in the 15th century Palazzo Vitelleschi at Piazza Cavour 1a, Tarquinia, Italy.

Long Description:

The second floor of the National Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia contains the famous high relief sculpture of the winged horses taken from the Temple of Ara della Regina. The sculpture is in a room by itself suspended against a black wall. The Winged Horses have become the symbol of Tarquinia.

The high relief sculpture of a pair of winged horses positioned side by side once decorated the top of a column at the most important temple of the ancient Etruscan city of Tarquinia, the Temple of the Queen's Ara (Temple of Ara della Regina). They were sculpted on a 114 cm high by 124 cm wide terracotta panel and were placed at the front of the temple on one of the main frontal supporting column. They date from the end of 5th century to the early 4th century BCE.

The Winged Horses was found shattered into more than 100 shards when archaeologist Pietro Romanelli excavated the temple in 1938. They have been painstaking restored to its original condition.