Female Centaur with thyrsus, rescuing girl. Fresco #141.

by Paderni, Camillo

Female Centaur, black background. Spectacular Herculaneum fresco print.

Centaurs of mythology were part-human and part-horse. Female centaurs were rarely depicted. This thyrsus-carrying female centaur also carries a girl.

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)