Belly-Amphora (Storage Jar)
550-540 BCE
Medium
terracotta, black-figure
Dimensions
28.2 × 21.6 × 19 cm (10 3/4 × 8 1/2 × 7 1/2 in.)
Classification
amphora
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
52198
Art Historical Context
This elegant belly-amphora, created between 550 and 540 BCE by the Painter of Tarquinia RC 3984, exemplifies the refined black-figure technique of Archaic Greek pottery. Standing just over ten inches tall, the terracotta vessel features the characteristic rounded body and twin handles designed for storing and transporting wine or olive oil. Its attribution to this artist, named after a related vase now in Tarquinia, Italy, highlights the careful scholarship that connects individual hands across surviving examples from the period. In the black-figure method, the painter applied a glossy slip t...