The ''Rampin Rider'' or ''Rampin Horseman'' ( 550 BC) is an

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

from the Archaic Period of

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

. It is made of marble, and has traces of red and black paint. The head of the rider was found on the

Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, ...

in 1877 and donated to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. Parts of the body of the rider and horse were found ten years earlier in a ''

Perserschutt The (), as it is called in the German language, is the collection of ancient votive and architectural sculptures that belonged to the Acropolis of Athens before being destroyed during the second Persian invasion of Greece, which took place be ...

'' ditch filled with statues broken during the 480 BC Persian sack of Athens. The head was not associated with the rest of the statue until 1936. The statue is displayed with a plaster cast of the head at the

Acropolis Museum The Acropolis Museum (, ''Mouseio Akropolis'') is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on the surrounding slope ...

, while the head remains at the Louvre where it is displayed with a cast of the rest of the statue. The rider has many of the features typical of an Archaic

kouros Kouros (, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculpture, Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with ...

, but has several asymmetrical features that break with the period's conventions.

Interpretations

The statue was originally thought to be a part of a set of statues, perhaps paired with another as a mounted presentation of

Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of ...

common on vases from this period. According to another theory, the statue represents the winner of a race. This theory is supported by the crown of lovage, given to winners of the

Nemean Games The Nemean Games ( or Νέμεια) were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Nemea every two years (or every third). With the Isthmian Games, the Nemean Games were held both the year before and the year after th ...

and the

Isthmian Games Isthmian Games or Isthmia (Ancient Greek: Ἴσθμια) were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were named after the Isthmus of Corinth, where they were held. As with the Nemean Games, the Isthmian Games were held both the year be ...

, on the statue.

Gallery

File:Casts of archaic Greek sculptures, Rampin rider, Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology, 157474.jpg, Rear view of a cast at the

Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge The Museum of Classical Archaeology is a museum in Cambridge, England, housed in the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Classics of the University of Cambridge. Since 1982, it has been located in a purpose-built gallery on ...

File:Cavalier Rampin - Louvre 2014.JPG, Original of the head, in the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

File:Louvre Head of Knight, 550 BC, Acropolis, Athens (9812034093).jpg, Reconstitution with plaster-cast body, Louvre Museum

References

Page at the Louvre (English): ''Head of a horseman, known as the "Rampin Horseman"''
{{Authority control 6th-century BC Greek sculptures Equestrian statues in France Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures in the Louvre Acropolis Museum Archaeological discoveries in Attica Marble sculptures in Greece Sculptures of men in Greece Sculptures in Athens Statues in Greece Greek artifacts outside Greece Sculptures of men in France