Terracotta psykter-column-krater (vase for chilling and mixing wine and water)

Troilos Painter

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Obverse, Herakles and Dionysos in Olympos Reverse, Dionysos with Olympian deities This vase is the only known preserved example of a combination psykter and column-krater. The psykter emerged at the end of the sixth century B.C. and had a short and rare existence. Its distinctive shape allowed it to contain wine and remain upright in a krater filled with cold water or snow. In the present piece, the krater has a double wall; openings at the top and bottom of the body allowed cold water to be poured in and to flow out. The figural scenes show Dionysos, god of wine, and Herakles, the hero and protégé of Athena, on Mount Olympos, the home of the gods. The obverse depicts Dionysos with Ariadne and Herakles with Nike. On the reverse, Hera, Zeus, Athena, and Leto approach the seated Dionysos. Most of the names on the vase are inscribed.

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