3-095-905 - "Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer: Paul Highnam"/Heritage Images

Amazon falling from her Horse, c1842-1848? Plaster relief. In Greek mythology, the Amazons were female warriors and hunters, known for their physical agility, strength, archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat. Their society was closed to men and they raised only their daughters. Courageous and fiercely independent, the Amazons, commanded by their queen, regularly undertook extensive military expeditions into the far corners of the world. Gibson depicted the figure of a wounded Amazon three times - twice in bas-relief and once as a statue. The bas-reliefs enabled him to combine his anatomical interest in horses and the female body. Although he looked to nature, Gibson undoubtedly based his Amazons on the classical prototypes on display in the Vatican and Capitoline Galleries.