Detail of a Terracotta Kylix Attributed to the Brygos Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2011

Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)

Attributed to the Brygos Painter

Period: Classical

Date: ca. 480–470 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; red-figure

Dimensions: H. 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm) diameter 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Purchase, 1896

Accession Number: 96.9.37

Description:

Thracian woman

The large piece of patterned cloth used as a shield identifies the figure as Thracian. She hastens forward holding a spear in her right hand. The characterization suggests that she is an excerpt from a larger scene depicting the death of Orpheus, the irresistible musician. After losing his wife, Eurydice, Orpheus became a recluse. Thus spurned, the enraged women of Thrace killed him. In one version, they tore him to pieces.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/246137