Detail of a Terracotta Pelike Attributed to the Meidias Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2012

Terracotta pelike (jar)

Attributed to the Meidias Painter

Period: Classical

Date: ca. 420–410 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; red-figure

Dimensions: H. 18 7/8 in. (48 cm); diameter 13 11/16 in. (34.8 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1937

Accession Number: 37.11.23

Description: Obverse, Musaios
Reverse, Herakles and Deianeira

The workshop of the Meidias Painter was the major source of large pots during the last two decades of the fifth century B.C. This masterpiece exemplifies his ability to accommodate delicate, elaborate compositions to large, sturdy shapes. Musaios, a mythical musician, is characterized here as Thracian by his long-sleeved tunic and high fur boots. Below him, to the left, appear his wife, Deiope, and his son, Eumolpos. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, is shown with Peitho, the personification of persuasion, in addition to five muses. The idyllic quality of the scene continues on the reverse where Deianeira, the wife of Herakles, reveals herself to her husband. The emphasis is on respite and glory rather than the toils of Herakles' life.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/253541