South Italian Volute Krater with Apollo and Artemis in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Mixing Vessel with Apollo and Artemis
Attributed to the Palermo Painter
Greek, Lucania, South Italy, about 415 - 400 B.C.
Terracotta
22 1/16 x 13 3/8 in.
85.AE.101

A gathering of deities decorates the front of this red-figure volute-krater, made in a Greek colony in the region of Lucania in southern Italy. The twin gods Apollo and Artemis occupy the center of the scene. Apollo holds a kithara, denoting his role as god of music, and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, is accompanied by her sacred deer. Their mother Leto stands at the right. On the left, the god Hermes leans on a pillar inscribed with his name, which represents either a boundary marker or a goalpost. Two pairs of youths stand conversing on the back of the vase.

The volute-krater was a large serving vessel used to mix wine and water at a symposium or drinking party. Large symposium vessels like this one began to be produced in the Greek colonies in Italy in the late 400s B.C. Before this time, the colonists had simply imported their fine pottery from Athens, but at this time local painted pottery workshops emerged. Proportionally few vases made in Lucania, the "toe" of Italy, have survived.

Text from: www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=12926