The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Period:: Classical
Date:: ca. 480–470 B.C.
Culture:: Greek, Attic
Medium:: Terracotta; red-figure
Dimensions:: H. 13 3/8 in. (34 cm); width 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm); diameter of foot 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm) diameter of mouth 3 1/16 in. (7.8 cm)
Classification:: Vases
Credit Line:: Fletcher Fund, 1925
Accession Number:: 25.78.2

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 156

Description

Hermes

Hermes, the messenger god, moves swiftly across this vase on some errand for Zeus, the ruler of the gods. Dressed in traveling clothes with a chlamys (short cloak) and a petasos (broad-brimmed hat), he wears winged sandals and carries a herald's staff, a kerykeion, which terminates in entwined snakes. The same symbol was carried by Greek heralds as they traveled from city to city.
References

Richter, Gisela M.A. 1925. "Athenian Red-Figured Vases." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 20(5): p. 132.

Richter, Gisela M.A. 1928. "Recent Accessions of Athenian Vases." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 23(4): p. 108.
See also
Who
Tithonos Painter (2)
What
Clay (23,649)

Vessels (21,921)

Vases (8,895)

Terracotta (8,373)

Jugs (1,683)

Lekythoi (291)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Greece (6,287)
When
1000 B.C.-A.D. 1 (23,148)
In the Museum
Greek and Roman Art (17,329)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Greek Gods and Religious Practices

Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.