Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)
Unknown Artist
Obverse, kitharode and three male listeners
Reverse, three youths
The principal scene shows a young man performing for three listeners. The instrument is a kithara, the type of lyre used for formal presentation. The artist's concern is to convey the response of each figure, from the deep introversion of the seated man to the gesture of the person behind him. This representation is characteristically classical in its emphasis on a state of being rather than on a narrative event.
Credit: Rogers Fund, 1921
Ca. 450–440 B.C.
Terracotta; red-figure
38.2 x 38.2 cm
21.88.73
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection
