Terracotta antefix depicting the divine couple Mars and Venus. The god of war is depicted seated in right three-quarter profile. He wears a helmet and a mantle, bunched up over his left shoulder, falling down his back and finally drawn up over his right thigh. The arrangement of the drapery leaves much of his muscular body exposed, including his genitalia. His right hand rests on a round shield standing on the ground, upon which he leans for support. His left arm is bent, with his hand grasping a spear held upright. To the god's left, Venus stands in a languid pose, with her left lower arm resting on a column faintly indicated in the background. Her chiton has slipped from both shoulders and barely covers her breasts, while its thin fabric reveals the distinctly feminine contours of her body. A mantle is draped around her legs and left arm and was held in place by her raised right hand, which is no longer preserved. The relief originally extended somewhat further both above and below. The lateral edges are partially preserved. A small part of the calypter remains on the reverse (this elongated roof tile covered the joints between adjacent roof sections, thereby preventing rainwater from penetrating the roof). The antefix belongs to a group of decorative architectural terracottas commonly referred to as "Campana reliefs", named after the Italian art collector Giampietro Campana (1808–1880), who assembled a substantial collection of these reliefs and published it in 1842. Apart from antefixes, the group comprises revetment plaques, usually nailed onto wooden structures, plaques for insertion into walls, and simas with crowning elements. The terracotta plaques were richly painted and adorned sacred buildings such as temples. Subsequently, they also came to be used in secular architecture, where they served as decorative elements in both the interior and exterior of public and private buildings, including theatres, baths and columbaria.Their iconographic repertoire is extensive and encompasses myths involving gods and heroes, cult scenes, imagery associated with the Dionysiac sphere, representations of Roman daily life, such as circus and theatrical scenes, landscapes, particularly Nilotic scenes, and floral and ornamental motifs. Most of these reliefs originate from Rome and its immediate surroundings. Their distribution was largely confined to central and northern Italy, probably reflecting the continuation of the Etruscan tradition of architectural terracotta decoration. Several mould-related examples are known for the antefix type represented here. The head and most of the legs of Venus, the lower legs, feet and helmet crest of Mars, as well as the upper and lower edges, are missing. Minor chipping to the surface.