Detail of a Patera with the Head of Medusa in the Getty Villa, June 2016

Bowl with Medusa
Attributed to the Circle of the Lycurgus Painter
Greek, Apulia, South Italy, about 350 B.C.
Terracotta
18 1/2 x 10 1/4 in.
96.AE.116

The decapitated head of the gorgon Medusa surrounded by a wreath of vine leaves and grapes decorates the interior of this red-figure patera. A patera was a shallow bowl with a long handle used to make votive or funerary offerings to the gods. In this portrayal, two pairs of entwined snakes frame Medusa's calm, sad face. She wears white earrings and a diadem with upright palmettes in added white and yellow set in her hair. The back of the bowl is simply edged with a wreath of laurel leaves and berries. A kouros or standing nude youth, whose arms are raised to support the bowl, forms the handle of the vessel.

A completely preserved patera like this one is quite rare. As this type of vessel is well known in bronze examples, the ocher yellow paint that covers the body of the youth was probably meant to simulate polished bronze or gold.

Text from: www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=35476