The main scene shows an artist painting a marble statue of the hero Herakles in the presence of Zeus and Herakles himself. Using the encaustic technique, the painter applies a mixture of pigment and wax to Herakles’s lion skin. A box of pigments and other supplies are on the ground, and a young assistant tends the brazier, on which rods are heating that will spread the tinted wax. Applied color in the red-figure technique highlights the white marble and golden hair of Herakles. Although the assistant’s skin color is not differentiated, certain physical characteristics such as his hair may have been meant to indicate that he is of Black African heritage.
#1056. Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
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1056. Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
2611. Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
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Title:Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
Artist:Attributed to the Group of Boston 00.348
Period:Late Classical
Date:ca. 360–350 BCE
Culture:Greek, South Italian, Apulian
Medium:Terracotta; red-figure
Dimensions:H. 20 1/4 in. (51.5 cm)
Classification:Vases
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1950
Accession Number:50.11.4
[Until 1950, with Robert E. Hecht, Jr., Rome]; acquired in 1950, purchased from Robert E. Hecht, Jr.
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