Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)

Painter of London E 497

ca. 440 BCE · Terracotta · Greek and Roman Art

Obverse, Orpheus among the Thracians Reverse, libation scene Orpheus, the best known of the mythical musicians, is associated with Thrace in the northernmost part of Greece. After he had descended into the underworld to find his beloved wife, Eurydice, and had lost her, he withdrew into solitude. Feeling rebuffed, Thracian women set upon Orpheus and killed him. Here he is shown seated on a rock formation and engrossed in his music. The central figure, wearing typical Thracian dress, identifies the setting, while the woman who holds a sickle in her left hand foreshadows Orpheus's fate.

Artist

Painter of London E 497

Date

ca. 440 BCE

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek, Attic

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Fletcher Fund, 1924