Terracotta amphora (jar)

Andokides

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On the body, obverse, Herakles and Apollo vying for possession of the Delphic tripod, which was central to the oracle of Apollo; reverse, Dionysos, the god of wine, between satyr and maenad On the lip, obverse and reverse, Herakles and the Nemean Lion The introduction of the red-figure technique is attributed to the workshop of Andokides. While we think of red-figure mainly in terms of drawing, it differs from black-figure also in the very different apportionment of glazed and unglazed surfaces on a vase. The preparation of these surfaces was probably the responsibility of the potter, and for this reason, the new technique is associated with a potter rather than a painter. On some works combining red-figure and black-figure, a single painter seems to have done both; here, however, two different artists are likely. The scene on the obverse depicts the hero Herakles with his club and the god Apollo with bow and arrows, struggling over the Delphic tripod, which Herakles sought to carry off.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art