Detail of a Terracotta Lekythos Attributed to the Vouni Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2012

Title: Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)

Artist: Attributed to the Vouni Painter

Period: Classical

Date: ca. 460–450 BCE

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; white-ground

Dimensions: Overall: 16 11/16 x 5 7/16in. (42.4 x 13.8cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Purchase, Anonymous Gift, 1935

Accession Number: 35.11.5


Woman and youth at two graves

This lekythos is impressive for the well-preserved color and quantity of detail. The setting is probably a family burial plot. Closest to the viewer are two dark blocks, the left one partly overlapping the right. Attached to the right block are a pair of jumping weights, an aryballos (oil flask), and a wreath. The two stelai (grave markers) should certainly be understood as standing on top of the blocks. Farthest from the viewer are two forms that represent one or two burial mounds. The figures at this funerary precinct are adding to the large number of fillets (bands) and wreaths.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253485