An antefix (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

', to fasten before) is a vertical block which terminates and conceals the covering tiles of a tiled roof (see

imbrex and tegula The imbrex and tegula (plural imbrices and tegulae) were overlapping roof tiles used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture as a waterproof and durable roof covering. They were made predominantly of fired clay, but also sometimes of marble, br ...

monk and nun Monk and Nun is a style of roof similar to imbrex and tegula, but instead of using a flat tile (tegula) and an arched tile (imbrex), two arched imbrex tiles are used. The top linking tiles are the ''monk'' tiles and the lower layer are the ''nun ...

). It also serves to protect the join from the elements. In grand buildings, the face of each stone antefix was richly carved, often with the anthemion ornament. In less grand buildings moulded ceramic antefixes, usually

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

, might be decorated with figures heads, either of humans, mythological creatures, or astrological iconography, especially in the Roman period. On temple roofs, maenads and satyrs were often alternated. The frightening features of the Gorgon, with its petrifying eyes and sharp teeth was also a popular motif to ward off evil. A Roman example from the Augustan period features the butting heads of two billy goats. It may have had special significance in imperial Rome since the constellation Capricorn was adopted by the emperor Augustus as his own lucky star sign and appeared on coins and legionary standards. By this time they were found on many large buildings, including private houses. The earliest examples in museum collections date back to the 7th century BCE in both Greece and Etruria. In the garden of the

Villa Giulia The Villa Giulia is a villa in Rome, Italy. It was built by Pope Julius III in 1551–1553 on what was then the edge of the city. Today it is publicly owned, and houses the Museo Nazionale Etrusco, a collection of Etruscan art and artifacts. ...

in Rome, that houses the National Etruscan Museum, is a reconstruction of an Etruscan temple built between 1889 and 1890 on the basis of the ruins found in Alatri. Its tiled roof is lined with antefixes.

Etymology

From Latin ''antefixa'', pl. of ''antefixum'', something fastened in front, from ''antefixus'', fastened in front: ''ante-'', ''ante-'' and ''fixus'', fastened, past participle of ''figere'', to ''fasten''. File:Acroterion - Getty Villa - Outer Peristyle.jpg Image:Terracotta antefix (roof tile) with head of a maenad MET DP251364.jpg, Etruscan antefix from Cerveteri of a maenad wearing an elaborate diadem and grape-cluster earrings, The MET Image:Terracotta antefix MET SF111401.jpg, Roman antefix decorated with the butting heads of two billy goats, The MET Image:Terracotta antefix MET sf9618162b.jpg, Roman antefix depicting

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

(Aphrodite, the goddess of love) and her lover

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

(Ares, the god of war), The MET Image:British museum antefix.jpg,

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

antefix from

Cerveteri Cerveteri () is a town and '' comune'' of northern Lazio in the region of the Metropolitan City of Rome. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, its modern na ...

, 6th century BCE, British Museum Image:0 Antéfixe - Museo Gregoriano Etrusco - Vatican (1b).JPG,

antefix from

Vulci Vulci or Volci ( Etruscan: ''Velch'' or ''Velx'', depending on the romanization used) was a rich Etruscan city in what is now northern Lazio, central Italy. As George Dennis wrote, "Vulci is a city whose very name... was scarcely remembered, b ...

, 1st century BCE, Vatican Image:Etruscan - Antefix with Head of Silenus - Walters 48354.jpg, This

antefix depicts the mythological character

Silenus In Greek mythology, Silenus (; grc, Σειληνός, Seilēnós, ) was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus. He is typically older than the satyrs of the Dionysian retinue ('' thiasos''), and sometimes considerably older, in which ...

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Image:Roof ornament (antefix) in the shape of a dancing Maenad and a Saytr Etruscan 500-475 BCE Terracotta 01.jpg, Roof ornament (antefix) in the shape of a dancing Maenad and a Satyr Etruscan 500–475 BCE Getty Villa Image:Antefix, Nordisk familjebok.png, Antefixes in position

References

External links

* Architectural elements Ancient Greek architecture Ornaments (architecture) Ancient Roman pottery Roof tiles Etruscan architecture Etruscan ceramics {{architecturalelement-stub