Etruscan antefix in the form of a female headFrom Cerveteri525- 500 B.C.Polychrome terracotta; height 27 cm; width 17 cminv. 13883The antefix; of the type without a nimbus; decorated the tiles at the ends of the eaves of the roof; constituting a serial decoration. It has the form of a female head; the details of which are defined through finely detailed polychrome painting; rather than in relief. The head is crowned with a diadem; decorated with a double row of leaves and small spears. She wears a pair of disc-shaped earrings with a rosette painted in the centre.This type of archaic antefix is typical of Cerveteri. Its stylistic traits; including the persistent archaic 'smile'; denote the still appreciable influence of the Ionic style; evident in a great deal of Etruscan artistic and artisanal production from the Middle to Late Archaic period.Vatican Museums (Gregorian Etruscan Museum)2018