Terracotta hydria (water jar)
ca. 530 BCE
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
19 × 16 × 13 1/8 in. (48.3 × 40.6 × 33.3 cm) Diam. of rim: 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm) Diam. of foot: 6 5/8 in. (16.8 cm)
Classification
Vases
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Archaic
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1914
Accession Number
14.105.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant terracotta hydria, or water jar, crafted by Mastos Painter around 530 BCE, exemplifies the pinnacle of Attic black-figure pottery during Greece's Archaic period. in Athens, these vessels were both practical for daily use—fetching and storing water via their three handles—and canvases for storytelling. The Mastos Painter, an anonymous master identified by his distinctive style on a signed breast-shaped cup (mastos), favored dynamic mythological scenes, as seen here through tags evoking Herakles, Hermes, Dionysus, horses, chariots, and shields. The black-figure technique, where ora...