Female Centaur carrying male, lyre and cymbals. Fresco #149

by Paderni, Camillo

Half-woman, half-beast Female Centaur, playing lyre and cymbal, carrying man with other half cymbal. Ever so clever... multi-tasking even then.

Centaurs of Greek mythology were usually half-man and half-horse. This is a rare illustration of a female centaur. 

Reproduction from a hand-coloured copperplate engraving by Filippo Morghen (1730-1807) after a drawing by Camillo Paderni, for the most important 18th century archaeological work, recording 40 years of archaelogical discoveries at Herculaneum, a Roman municipium buried when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Le Antichita di Ercolano Esposto (Herculaneum Antiquities Exposed) was published in Naples between 1757 and 1792 under the patronage of King Charles II of Naples.

Image measures 245 x 355 mm (9.5/8  x 14 inches). Page size is 300 x 450 mm (11.3/4 x 17.3/4 inches)