Hercules and Apollo of Veii

Hercules and Apollo of Veii are life-size terracotta figures made 510–500 BC for the roofline of the Portonaccio Temple at Veii, a sanctuary dedicated to Minerva. Now a centerpiece of Rome’s National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, they stage a moment of mythic rivalry—Apollo confronting Hercules over the golden-horned hind—rendered with the striding energy of late-archaic Etruscan art. Their survival preserves the ambition of Veii on the eve of Roman dominance.