This elaborate vase belongs to a small class of vessels from Centuripe, a small town in eastern Sicily, where they were apparently made. Characteristically, sumptuous, gilt, high-relief decoration, imitating fine metalwork, is combined with bright tempera paintings. The front and sides of the lid depict a complex scene with several female figures around an altar. One figure holds a tambourine. In the handle-zone, a Medusa head is flanked by Erotes amidst a floral scroll. The finial and base are decorated with shafts of wheat and leaves.
Due to rights restrictions, 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.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Terracotta lekanis (dish) with lid and finial
Period:Hellenistic
Date:2nd half of 3rd century BCE
Culture:Greek, Sicilian, Centuripe
Medium:Terracotta
Dimensions:Overall: 24 1/4 x 24 1/2in. (61.6 x 62.2cm)
Classification:Vases
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1930
Accession Number:30.11.4a–c
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1929–1930. "Polychrome Vases from Centuripe in the Metropolitan Museum." Metropolitan Museum Studies, 2(2): pp. 187–205.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1931. "A Polychrome Vase from Centuripe
." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 26(5): pp. 123–25, figs. 1–2.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1932–1933. "A Polychrome Vase from Centuripe: Addendum to Metropolitan Museum Studies, volume II, part 2, pages 187-205." Metropolitan Museum Studies, 4(1): pp. 45–54, figs. 1–7.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. pp. 130, 272, pl. 112b, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1955. Ancient Italy : a study of the interrelations of its peoples as shown in their arts. pp. 25, 80, figs. 105, 247, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Joly, Elda. 1980. "Teorie vecchie e nuove sulla ceramica policroma." Philias Charin. Miscellanea di Studi Classici in onore di Eugenio Manni. p. 1245, Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider Editore.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 235, pp. 199, 450–51, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mertens, Joan R. 2010. How to Read Greek Vases. no. 35, pp. 13, 152, 168–71, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portale, Elisa Chiara. 2011. "Un 'fenomeno strano e inatteso': riflessioni sulla ceramica di Centuripe." Pittura ellenistica in Italia e in Sicilia, Linguaggi e Tradizioni: Atti del Convegno di Studi (Messina, 24-25 settembre 2009), Gioacchine Francesco La Torre and Mario Torelli, eds. pp. 165, 173, 177–78, 180, 600, pl. 10a, Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider Editore.
Caltabiano, Maria Caccamo. 2012. "Dea e Nymphe. L'ideologia della Personificazione della Città nell'Iconografia Monetale." IIl significato delle immagini : numismatica, arte, filologia, storia : atti del secondo incontro internazionale di studio del "Lexicon Iconographicum Numismaticae" (Genova, 10-12 novembre 2005), Serta Antiqua et Mediaevalia XIV. Scienze documentarie II, Rossella Pera, ed. pl. 326 x, Rome: Università degli Studi di Genova.
Zanker, Paul. 2022. Afterlives : Ancient Greek Funerary Monuments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 49, pp. 154–55, New York: Scala Publishers.
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.
