North frieze of horsemen
- Audio guide stop: 268
- Gallery: Room 18
- Maker: Pheidias
- Culture: Classical Greek
- Made in: Athens
- Date: 438BC-432BC
- Object type: temple-relief
- Materials: marble
- Museum number: 1816,0610.39
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is part of "The Parthenon Sculptures"—a marble relief from the North frieze, showing a procession from the Panathenaic festival, honoring the goddess Athena. Before you is a fragment featuring three riders in varied dress. On the left stands a figure in an animal skin cap, tunic, and leather boots. To the right is another rider with bare arms, wearing a tunic with a belt and long boots. From the opposite block, the leg and rein hand of a fourth rider enter dramatically from the right, with a rearing horse above.
The frieze includes a range of styles—some riders are richly draped, while others are nearly bare. Different headgear and bare heads add variety. Metal reins—long since lost—were once attached in drill holes. A fragment showing a horse and rider’s head, donated in 1817, was added to the top right corner.
Created in Athens between 438 and 432 BC, this work was designed by Pheidias, a key figure in Classical Greek art.
See it in person
North frieze of horsemen is on display in Room 18 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 268, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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