Woman with thyrsus, driving male Centaur. Fresco #135.

by Paderni, Camillo

Centaurs of Greek mythology were half-man and half-horse. This spectacular print depicts an excavated Herculaneum fresco.

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 antiquities excavated 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)