Fragment of a Relief of a Horseman and Bearded Man in the Princeton University Art Museum, August 2009

Fragment of a Relief of a Horseman and Bearded Man
Greek, Attic, beginning of the 4th century BC
Pentelic marble

# 1996-66

A bearded man wearing a himation leans on his staff as he faces an approaching horseman, of whom only one leg is preserved. The scene resembles votive reliefs in which gods or heros are adored by mortal worshippers of lesser stature. The man on this relief, however, is taller than the horse. He resembles a figure from another Athenian relief dated 398/397 BC, who has been identified as Demos, the personification of the People of Athens. Instead of a votive relief, this sculpture may have commemorated a victory in an equestrian contest.

Text from the Princeton University Art Museum label.