Terracotta hydria: kalpis (water jar)

Niobid Painter

ca. 460–450 BCE · Terracotta · Greek and Roman Art

Triptolemos between Demeter and Persephone The Niobid Painter ranks with the Villa Giulia Painter as one of the preeminent artists of the second quarter of the fifth century B.C. The Niobid Painter is remembered particularly for mythological representations on large pots. Here, on a smaller scale, he depicts Triptolemos being dispatched by the goddess Demeter, the patroness of fertility and agriculture, and her daughter, Persephone, to teach the cultivation of grain to humanity. The great attraction of this legend—to the artist and the viewer—lies in the winged car that transports Triptolemos. The model here comes "loaded" with snakes.

Artist

Niobid Painter

Date

ca. 460–450 BCE

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek, Attic

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1941