Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Obverse, Aeneas rescuing his father, Anchises, during the fall of Troy

Reverse, woman and warrior

Aeneas carrying his aged father, Anchises, away from Troy at the end of the Trojan War was a much illustrated incident. It derived from the Iliu Persis, an epic poem describing the Greek victory. The adventures of the Trojan hero on his way to Italy were later celebrated in Virgil's Aeneid.

Credit: Fletcher Fund, 1956