Three fragments of a terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)

Three fragments of a terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ransom of Hector and a satyr standing before a woman Gnathian is a conventional term principally used for Apulian pottery in which polychrome decoration is applied to a black-glaze ground. The representation of the ransom of Hector was inspired by Aischylos' tragedy of the same name. The action is occurring on a stage, indicated by the horizontal lines below Hector's couch and footstool and the vertical tent supports. Priam kneels, clasping the legs of Achilles in supplication. The reverse shows figures executed in incision, with added white and yellow details.


Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three fragments of a terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)Three fragments of a terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)Three fragments of a terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)Three fragments of a terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)Three fragments of a terracotta calyx-krater (mixing bowl)

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.