Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora (jar)
Unknown Artist
Obverse, Athena
Reverse, chariot race
From the second quarter of the sixth century B.C. on, victors in the contests for the Panathenaic festival in Athens were awarded a standardized vase containing one metretes (about forty-two quarts) of olive oil from sacred olive groves in Attica. The official decoration on the front was a picture of a statue of Athena, fully armed, standing between two columns. The event for which the vase was awarded was illustrated on the back. This vase was the prize of a victor in the prestigious chariot race.
Credit: Fletcher Fund, 1956
c. 520 B.C.
Terracotta; black-figure
62.2 cm
56.171.4
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection
