Bell krater (Paestan red-figure ware)
360 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
35.6 × 34.6 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1980
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The pottery workshop of Paestum in Southern Italy flourished during the second half of the fourth century BCE. The decoration on this bell krater is particularly important because the main scene links the worship of Dionysus with the comic theatre, through the comic mask held by the maenad (female attendant of Dionysus) on the right. On the left, a youthful Dionysus holds a thyrsos, or fennel stalk – symbol of Dionysiac ritual – and a libation dish. The maenad on the right offers the god a sprig of ivy and holds a comic mask of an angry old man. The drapery on both figures has a distinctive black border, a hallmark of the painter Asteas.
Artwork Details
Physical description
Large, wide-mouthed vessel of inverted bell shape with two short, up-turned handles, one on each side of the body. Decorated in black glaze and red figure. Side A: Dionysus and Maenad, the Maenad on the right leaning on a pillar and holding thyrsus and a comic mask of an old man. Dionysus is naked except for a draped cloak and wreath. Side B: two draped youths. Below the handles, palmettes and side scrolls. Below the rim is a band of laurel and below the scenes is a band of wave pattern.