Fragment of an antefix: female head surrounded by foliage

Antefixes were ornaments used to cover the spaces between tiles, and to decorate roof edges. This antefix was probably part of a series decorating the roof of a public or private building erected in the Etruscan city of Cerveteri. It belongs to a type of antefix featuring a female head that was produced around the middle of the 6th century BCE (Archaic period). The expressive face, with its pronounced smile, is highlighted by colourful plant motifs. From around 600 to 460 BCE, Etruria (present-day central Italy) was a Mediterranean power, particularly well known for its urban structures and monumental religious and political centres, in cities such as Cerveteri, Vulci and Tarquinia.