The Armento Rider
- Gallery: Room 73
- Culture: Western Greek
- Made in: Taranto
- Date: 560BC-550BC (circa)
- Object type: figure
- Materials: bronze
- Museum number: 1904,0703.1
- 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
In front of you is "The Armento Rider," a bronze statue of a warrior riding a horse. Created around 550 BC in Taranto, this figure is from the Western Greek tradition. The statuette shows a warrior wearing a Corinthian-style helmet and a short tunic. Originally, he held a spear and reins, likely made of copper wire, and his helmet had a side-crested decoration. The bronze was cast using ancient techniques and was likely used for ornamental or ritual purposes.
This piece was excavated in the area of Armento, though some sources mistakenly note Grumentum as the findspot. It once belonged to a famous collection in Hungary and was brought to England by 1857. Purchased in 1904, this work offers a glimpse into the artistic traditions of the Greek settlers in southern Italy.
See it in person
The Armento Rider is on display in Room 73 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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