Head of Achelous

Head of Achelous
Etruscan production
Second half of the 6th – first half of the 5th century BC
Bronze, glass paste

These extraordinary bronze decorations probably adorned wooden furnishing objects — perhaps pieces of furniture or decorative elements for ceilings or walls.

At the centre of the large disc stands a head of Achelous, the mythological figure associated with rivers and freshwater springs, depicted with the body of a bull and the head of a man, with bovine ears and small horns.

Spring water flows through underground darkness before emerging into the light, bringing life and prosperity. For this reason, in the colonies of Magna Graecia and even more so in the Etruscan world, Achelous was regarded as a chthonic deity, linked to death and the underworld, but also to the rebirth of nature, good health, and the fertility of fields and herds.