One of the dramatic threads in the account of Odysseus's return to Ithaka is the gradual revelation of his identity. Here, Odysseus appears seated before a columned facade that represents his palace. Before him stand his son, Telemachos, and his wife, Penelope. As the old nurse, Eurykleia, washes Odysseus's feet, she recognizes him from an old scar. Artistic depictions such as this are interesting not only for the illustrative detail that they provide but also for the subjects chosen.
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Terracotta plaque
Period:Classical
Date:ca. 450 BCE
Culture:Greek, Melian
Medium:Terracotta
Dimensions:Overall: 7 3/4 x 7 5/16 in. (19.7 x 18.6 cm)
Classification:Terracottas
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1925
Object Number:25.78.26
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1926. "New Accessions in the Classical Department." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 21(3), part 1: pp. 80–81, fig. 1.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 109–10, fig. 72, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1930. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 109–10, fig. 72, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. pp. 80, 222, pl. 62d, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Touchefeu-Meynier, Odette. 1968. Thèmes Odysséens dans l'Art Antique. nos. 430, 457, pp. 221, 235, 239, 249, Paris: E. de Boccard.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1979. Greek Art of the Aegean Islands. no. 182, p. 226, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1988. Vol. 4: Eros-Herakles. "Eurykleia," pp. 101–2, no. 8, pl. 52, Zürich: Artemis Verlag.
Buitron-Oliver, Diana. 1992. The Odyssey and Ancient Art: An Epic in Word and Image. p. 156, fig. 37, Annandale-on-Hudson: Edith C. Blum Art Institute, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1994. Vol. 7: Oidipous-Theseus. "Penelope," p. 293, no. 20, pl. 228; "Telemachos," p. 855, no. 8, Zürich: Artemis Verlag.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 113, pp. 105, 428, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Karoglou, Kyriaki. 2016. "The Collection of Greek Terracotta Figurines at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Les Carnets de l’ACoSt, 14: p. 3, n. 20 [p. 8], fig. 6.
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.
