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| Antefix with Gorgon Head (about 530 BC) Gela, acropolis Terracotta, bright pink clay, cream-colored slip, mold-made, hand-finished, painted Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. 35688 [Cat. no. 62] |
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Antefix with Gorgon Head (about 530 BC)
This antefix and rounded roof tile come from the highest point of a sacred building on the Gela acropolis. The red and black painted surface is well-preserved and indicates just how colorful these edifices must have been, especially when viewed in the bright light of the Mediterranean.Having a grimace more like a smile and missing its threatening fangs, this representation of the Gorgon seems almost welcoming and tame, especially when compared with truly frightening images of the figure elsewhere in the exhibition [cat. nos. 50 and 56]-
Gorgon antefixes served to ward off evil from the buildings they embellished.
Page 8 of 9 | On the next page: Silenus Antefix (about 470-460 BC)