Detail of a Panathenaic Amphora Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2017

Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora


Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter


Period: Archaic

Date: ca. 500 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; black-figure

Dimensions: H: 25 in. (63.5 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1916

Accession Number: 16.71


Obverse, Athena
Reverse, pankration (athletic contest) and judge

After the mid-sixth century B.C., artists' signatures do not appear on Panathenaic prize amphorae. It seems, however, that certain artists used their own "trademark" shield devices. The Kleophrades Painter favored Pegasos, the winged horse. The reverse of this vase depicts the pankration, which combined wrestling, boxing, and kicking. The inclusion of the judge may highlight the particular danger of the event to the competitors.

www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249067