Lekythos (oil flask), ca. 440 b.c.; white ground
Attributed to the Achilles Painter
Greek, Attic
Terracotta
Artist Biography
Technical Glossary
Attributed to the Achilles Painter
Greek, Attic
Terracotta
H. 14 3/4 in. (37.39 cm)
Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989 (1989.281.72)
The Achilles Painter was one of the foremost artists in Athens during the mid-fifth century B.C. He is particularly well known for the decoration of lekythoi that contained oil and served in various rituals for the dead. In the scene depicted here, two youths flank a funerary monument embellished with bands of different types. Usually there is nothing in such representations to indicate whether the figures are alive or not. Most poignantly, the youth on the right is identified as deceased by the little soul that hovers above his head.
