Mastoid (Drinking Cup)
500-480 BCE
Medium
terracotta, black-figure
Dimensions
8.5 × 10 × 10 cm (3 7/16 × 4 × 4 in.)
Classification
drinking vessel
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
283
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This drinking cup depicts Herakles’s fight with the Cretan Bull, represented twice in the continuous frieze around the vase; there is a long dotted vine or ivy branch above. The hero stoops low to grasp the bull by one horn, forcing it to its knees. Behind him, as if suspended in the branch, is his cloak and his sword in its scabbard. To the left of one scene crouches a figure with a cloak around one arm and a club (presumably Iolaos with Herakles’s club), while to the left of the second version...
About the Artist
Ancient Greek
The artist known simply as "Ancient Greek" represents the anonymous masters of Attic vase painting, a cornerstone of Classical Greek art from the Archaic and Classical periods (circa 700–300 BCE). Little is known of their personal life, as ancient Greek potters and painters rarely signed their works or left biographical traces; early life and training remain not well documented. These creators ope...