Black-Figure White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena between Cocks and Hieropoioi (Officials)

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Black-Figure White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena between Cocks and Hieropoioi (Officials) as ceramic (Greek, Attic · 500–485 BCE).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

Athena’s skin, typically painted white on black-figure vases, here remains black atop the white ground.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this ceramic as Ceramic and credits Athena Painter (Greek, c. 500–475 BCE).

The museum's collection notes: The helmeted war goddess Athena strides forward on this oil vessel, raising her spear and a round shield emblazoned with a red snake. Flanked by two cocks, her pose recalls that on Panathenaic prize vases, the large black-figure amphorae awarded to athletic and equestrian victors in the Panathenaic Games. Beside the roosters stand two bearded, wreathed men, each holding a forked stick. Inscriptions identify the men as hieropoioi (doers of sacred things), officials charged with administration of sacred ceremonies and contests.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtBlack-Figure White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Athena between Cocks and Hieropoioi (Officials)

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