Rampin Rider, Marble equestrian statue in Athens, Greece
The Rampin Rider is a marble equestrian figure that demonstrates skilled craftsmanship in portraying both the mounted warrior and the horse beneath him. The work displays fine details in the figure's body and face as well as the animal's musculature and form.
The sculpture was created around 550 BC in an Attic workshop and discovered in fragments near the Acropolis. Its head was found in 1877, and the torso emerged during excavations nine years later.
The figure reflects the importance of horsemanship among Athens's upper classes in ancient times. It shows how riding skill and horse ownership marked a person's wealth and position in society.
The head of this figure is housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, while the body remains displayed in the Acropolis Museum in Athens. To see both parts together, you would need to visit two different locations across two countries.
This is one of the oldest known equestrian figures in art history, created during a time when such representations were rare. The work reveals how artists of that era learned to capture movement and strength in stone.
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