Skip to Main Content

Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena Slaying Giant (body); Satyr between Maenads (shoulder)

c. 490 BCE

attributed to Berlin Painter

(Greek, Attic, active c. 505–460 BC)
(Greek, Attic, active c. 490–460 BC)
Greek, Attic
ceramic
Diameter: 14.1 cm (5 9/16 in.); Diameter of mouth: 8.7 cm (3 7/16 in.); Overall: 38 cm (14 15/16 in.); Diameter of foot: 10 cm (3 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1978.59
Location: 102B Greek
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Download, Print and Share

Did You Know?

First attributed to Douris, this vase is now thought to have been painted by two anonymous painters.

Description

The two separate areas of figural decoration on this vase have been attributed to different painters: the small satyr and maenads on the shoulder to the Berlin Painter; and the larger figures of Athena and the slain Giant Enkelados on the body to the Painter of Goluchow 37. Scholars have named these two painters, whose actual names remain unknown, after other vases they have painted, now in Berlin and Warsaw. The victory of Athena and the Olympian gods over the Giants has been interpreted as a metaphor for the Greek victory over the Persians around the time this vase was made. Thus, although Enkelados appears as a fully armed warrior, he falls in utter and complete defeat—bleeding from multiple wounds, eyes rolling back, sword dropping from his hand.
Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena Slaying Giant (body); Satyr between Maenads (shoulder)

Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena Slaying Giant (body); Satyr between Maenads (shoulder)

c. 490 BCE

Berlin Painter, Painter of Goluchow 37

(Greek, Attic, active c. 505–460 BC), (Greek, Attic, active c. 490–460 BC)
Greek, Attic

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.