Terracotta fragment of a kylix (drinking cup)
460–450 BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Classical
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
2011.604.1.7537
Art Historical Context
This elegant terracotta fragment once formed part of a kylix, the shallow, stemmed drinking cup favored in ancient Athens during the Classical period. Created between 460 and 450 BCE by the Euaion Painter, an Attic vase-painter known for his refined red-figure work, the piece reflects the height of Athenian artistic achievement in the decades following the Persian Wars. The red-figure technique allowed the artist to render human figures with greater naturalism and detail against the warm clay background, a technical advance that transformed Greek vase painting. Kylikes like this one played a ...