Terracotta Stamnos Attributed to the Deepdene Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2012

Terracotta stamnos with cover (jar)

Attributed to the Deepdene Painter

Period: Classical

Date: ca. 470–460 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; red-figure

Dimensions: Overall: 15 x 15 3/8in. (38.1 x 39cm); diameter 12 3/8in. (31.4cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1917

Accession Number: 17.230.37a, b

Label:

Obverse, King Akrisios watching his daughter Danae and her son Perseus who stand in a chest about to be set adrift
Reverse, Danae's seated mother, a standing servant with basket, and a carpenter holding a hammer

When King Akrisios of Argos was informed by an oracle that his grandson would kill him, he locked away his daughter Danaë. Nevertheless, Zeus came to her as a shower of gold and Perseus was born. The king had Danaë and Perseus put into a wooden chest and set adrift to die at sea. After many adventures, including his beheading of Medusa the Gorgon, Perseus returned to Argos and fulfilled the prophecy. Here in a quiet but tense moment, Danaë and the baby react with horror and pleading before the chest is closed.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/256900