Artheon MuseumArtheonMuseum

Red-Figure Bell Krater (Mixing Vessel): Aphrodite and Eros

Red-Figure Bell Krater (Mixing Vessel): Aphrodite and Eros by Graz Painter (South Italian, Apulian, active c. 380–360 BCE)

Medium

ceramic

Dimensions

h. 30.5 cm

Classification

Ceramic

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Museum

Cleveland Museum of Art

Credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

Accession Number

1924.534

Tags

gender unknown

About this artwork

This small mixing vessel shows a finely dressed woman seated on a chest and holding up a mirror to admire herself. Before her stands Eros, the winged god of love, holding a ribbon or sash. Behind the woman stands a pillar with the inscription ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ, or APHRODITE, the goddess of love. Such labels are rare on vases, and scholars debate whether this names the woman shown as Aphrodite herself, with her son Eros, or a bride envisioning herself as Aphrodite, just before her wedding.

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