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  Magna Graecia: Greek Art From South Italy and Sicily > About the Exhibition > Gela > Silenus Antefix (about 470-460 BC)
 
 
Silenus Antefix (about 470-460 BC)
Gela, Via Apollo, acropolis at Molino di Pietro
Terracotta, well-refined red clay with inclusions of mica and anthracite, thick and homogeneous light brown slip, mold-made, hand-finished, painted
Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. 8294
[Cat. no. 63]

Silenus Antefix (about 470-460 BC)

Made during the first half of the 5th century BC, antefixes from Gela in the form of silenoi (aged satyrs) represent some of the finest examples of terracotta sculpture produced in Western Greece.

One of the best preserved, this antefix is highly expressive, having exaggerated features that invoke the personality of these beings. Representing the animal nature of humankind, silenoi are half-man, half-beast and are depicted in Greek art and myth as precocious creatures associated with Dionysos, god of wine. They could be delightful as well as threatening.

As decorative elements for temples and other public buildings, silenoi antefixes functioned like Gorgon antefixes [cat. nos. 7 and 62] and served to ward off evil.


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