Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
500–480 BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Archaic
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Dietrich von Bothmer, Distinguished Research Curator, Greek and Roman Art, 2011
Accession Number
2011.604.1.7060
Art Historical Context
This exquisite terracotta fragment from a kylix, or shallow drinking cup, dates to 500–480 and bears the masterful hand of Douris, one of ancient Athens' most celebrated vase painters. Created during the late Archaic in Attic Greece, it exemplifies the pinnacle of red-figure pottery—a revolutionary technique where figures were painted in the natural red clay, with backgrounds fired black, allowing for intricate details in anatomy, drapery, and expression that black-figure painting couldn't achieve. Kylixes like this were essential to the symposion, elite Greek male drinking parties where phil...
About the Artist
Douris
Douris, an Athenian red-figure vase-painter and potter, flourished from around 500 to 460 BCE during the transition from Archaic to early Classical art.) One of the most prolific artists of his era, he signed approximately 39 vases as painter, one as both painter and potter, and one as potter alone, with scholars attributing between 250 and 300 additional works to his hand based on stylistic analy...