NAVIGATION

The archaic period of the 6th century BC witnessed a number of important developments in Greek Art. Politically, the period saw the rise to power in the city states of a series of benevolent dictators, called in Greek ‘tyrants’, who had a beneficial effect on the arts as they promoted their own popularity by seeking to outdo each other in the scale and splendour of their public building programmes and in their promotion of trade.
During the great age of colonisation (circa 750-550BC) Greek settlement spread to Asia Minor's northern and southern coasts. These settlements prospered along the great sea and caravan trade routes and it was during this period that the earliest Greek achievements in science, philosophy and architecture were produced.
Reliefs such as these four fragments were incorporated into the architecture of buildings and combined to create a fluid and rhythmic scene of horses and their athletic riders.