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Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)

Attributed to the Danaë Painter
ca. 460 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 159
Obverse, woman playing lyre and two women listening
Reverse, women

The scene here has an intimacy that is exceptional in Greek vase-painting. In an indoor setting, a seated woman plays the lyre. Before her stand two women, one of whom rests her chin and hands on the shoulder of the other. The listeners are enraptured by what they hear. All of the elements in the representation reflect daily life in mid-fifth century B.C. Athens. It is nonetheless tempting to see the subject in more specific terms. One scholar has suggested that the women might be muses. Another possibility is that the performer is the poetess Sappho, who appears on several black-figured and red-figured vases.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
  • Artist: Attributed to the Danaë Painter
  • Period: Classical
  • Date: ca. 460 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta; red-figure
  • Dimensions: H. 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm)
    diameter of mouth 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1923
  • Object Number: 23.160.80
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

Audio

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1054. Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Part 1

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ca. 440 BCE
Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Kekrops Painter, Terracotta, Greek, Attic
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ca. 410–400 BCE
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Pair of terracotta volute-kraters (vases for mixing wine and water) with stands, Terracotta, Greek, South Italian, Apulian
Pair of terracotta volute-kraters (vases for mixing wine and water) with stands
Greek, South Italian, Apulian
3rd quarter of the 4th century BCE

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