South Italian, Paestan / c. 330–320 BCE
Black-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Pan Presenting Hare to Woman
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Black-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Pan Presenting Hare to Woman as ceramic (South Italian, Paestan · c. 330–320 BCE).
Although his name means “all” in Greek, Pan is primarily a god of shepherds.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this ceramic as ceramic and credits Asteas/Python Workshop (South Italian, Paestan, active c. 360–320 BCE).
The museum's collection notes: This round-bodied oil vessel, produced in Paestum, belongs to a small group of vessels decorated with black figure in the second half of the fourth century BC, long after the technique had previously fallen out of fashion. Unlike most such vessels, which are smaller and feature just a single figure (often a woman or bird), this one shows a more complex and colorful scene. The goat-legged god Pan perches on a branched tree trunk, holding his syrinx (panpipe) and a hare. Facing him, her hands on the trunk, is a draped woman, perhaps a nymph or the moon goddess Selene.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtBlack-Figure Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Pan Presenting Hare to WomanOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.