The abduction of Persephone by Hades surrounded by gods
The myth of the abduction of Persephone was situated in Sicily. Hades’ chariot occupies the most prominent area of the vase. All around appear deities connected with the event—Zeus, Hades’ brother, whose sanction was needed; Aphrodite and Eros, abettors of Hades’ desire; Demeter, Persephone’s mother; torch-bearing Hecate; and Athena. The vegetation in the scene and the choice of a water jar as the shape emphasize the aspect of fertility in the story. Mythological subjects such as this commonly decorated funerary vases.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
detail 1
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Terracotta hydria (water jar)
Artist:Attributed to the Group of B.M. F 308
Period:Late Classical
Date:ca. 340–330 BCE
Culture:Greek, South Italian, Apulian
Medium:Terracotta; red-figure
Dimensions:29 3/4 × 22 1/2 × 17 3/4 in. (75.6 × 57.2 × 45.1 cm) Diam. of foot: 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm) Diam. of rim: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)
Classification:Vases
Credit Line:Gift of Miss Matilda W. Bruce, 1907
Object Number:07.128.1
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. pp. 117, 256, pl. 96f, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Schauenburg, Konrad. 1958. "Die Totengötter in der unteritalischen Vasenmalerei." Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 73: pp. 58–59, 61, n. 66.
von Bothmer, Dietrich. 1964. Guide to the Collections: Greek and Roman Art. p. 24, fig. 32, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Metzger, Henri. 1966. "L'imagerie de grande Grèce et les textes littéraires à l'époque classique." Convegno internazionale di studi sulla Magna Brecia, 6: pp. 176–77.
von Bothmer, Dietrich. 1978. Antichnoe iskusstvo iz muzeia Metropoliten, Soedinennye Shtaty Ameriki: Katalog vystavki. no. 88, Moscow: Sovetskii Khudozhnik.
Trendall, Arthur Dale and Alexander Cambitoglou. 1978. The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, Vol. 1. no. 66, p. 427, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Brommer, Frank. 1980. Göttersagen in Vasenlisten. p. 30, Marburg: N.G. Elwert.
Trendall, Arthur Dale. 1981. "A Campanian Lekanis in Lugano." Numismatica e antichità classiche, 10: p. 182, pl. 13.11.
Lindner, Ruth. 1984. Der Raub der Persephone in der antiken Kunst. no. 14, p. 21, pl. 10, Würzburg: K. Triltsch.
Schauenburg, Konrad. 1984. "Unterweltsbilder aus Grossgrichenland." Römische Mitteilungen, 91: pp, 259, 371, ns. 2, 97.
Foley, Helene, Lesley A. Beaumont, and H. Alan Shapiro. 2003. "Mothers and Daughters." Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past, Jenifer Neils, John H. Oakley, and Katherine Hart, eds. p. 124, fig. 11, New Haven: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College.
Stampolidis, Professor Nicholas Chr. and Stavroula Oikonomou. 2014. Beyond: Death and Afterlife in Ancient Greece. no. 66, p. 142, Athens: Museum of Cycladic Art.
Trendall, Arthur Dale. 2016. Myth, Drama and Style in South Italian Vase-Painting: Selected Papers by A.D. Trendall, Ian Mcphee, ed. pp. 25–6, fig. 15, Uppsala: Paul Aströms Förlag.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
