Terracotta amphora (jar)

Taleides Painter|Taleides

ca. 540–530 BCE · Terracotta · Greek and Roman Art

Obverse, Theseus slaying the Minotaur Reverse, men weighing merchandise Discovered at Agrigento in Sicily before 1801, this may be the first Greek vase with a potter's signature to have been published in modern Europe. Besides the signature, there is an inscription praising a youth, Klitarchos, as handsome. After Herakles, Theseus is the major hero in Athenian iconography. He was credited with uniting the principalities of Attica and with numerous exploits. Here he kills the Minotaur (part-man, part-bull) in the palace of King Minos on Crete. The reverse shows a large scale with containers on each pan and a man bringing them into balance.

Artist

Taleides Painter|Taleides

Date

ca. 540–530 BCE

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

Greek, Attic

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1947