Art Institute of Chicago

Statuette of a Horse

Greek

Date

750-730 BCE

Medium

Bronze

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This small statuette was created in Greece around the time of the first Olympic games (776 BCE). It was made as a gift for a god and was probably deposited at a religious site. Devotional gifts took many forms, but statuettes of horses were especially popular because the creatures were symbols of affluence. Following the stylistic preference of the time, the sculptor used a few simple shapes to capture the animal’s essence.

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