Votive relief with horseman and bearded man,

ca. 400 BCE

This fragment preserves the left half of a stele that depicts a male figure leaning on a staff and facing a fast-moving horse and rider. We can hypothesize an Athenian origin for this relief because this type of marble comes from the quarries at Penteli, just north of Athens, and this style of carving recalls other examples from the city, including the cavalry procession on the Parthenon frieze. The scale of the figure, who is shown as larger than the horse, identifies him as a god or a personification, perhaps Demos, the embodiment of the people of Athens. He slightly extends his lower hand to touch the outstretched leg and hoof of the running horse, intimately connecting the people of Athens to the horse and its rider, who possibly represents one of the deified heroes of the city.