Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Attributed to the Achilles Painter
ca. 440 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 159
Mourner and the deceased at tomb

This vase exemplifies Attic white-ground funerary lekythoi at their finest. Funerary representations of the sixth century B.C. depicted the deceased surrounded by mourners. By the middle of the fifth century, the deceased was shown either as living or not at all. The figure at the left is a mourner; the deceased is identifiable by the diminutive soul fluttering above his head.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)
  • Artist: Attributed to the Achilles Painter
  • Period: Classical
  • Date: ca. 440 BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Attic
  • Medium: Terracotta; white-ground
  • Dimensions: H. 14 3/4 in. (37.39 cm)
  • Classification: Vases
  • Credit Line: Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989
  • Object Number: 1989.281.72
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

Audio

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1052. Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Part 1

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