Detail of a Hydria with a Shield with a Medusa Emblem in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2018

Terracotta Hadra hydria (water jar)

Period: Hellenistic

Date: 3rd century B.C.

Culture: Greek, Ptolemaic, Egyptian

Medium: Terracotta

Dimensions: H. 15 15/16 in. (40.5 cm)
diameter 10 15/16 in. (27.8 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Purchase, 1890

Accession Number: 90.9.67

On the body of the vase is a representation of a shield decorated with the head of the gorgon Medusa. The white slip and polychrome painting were probably added when the hydria was re-used as a cinerary urn, with the shield serving to protect the remains of the deceased. Unlike the other Hadra hydria displayed here, this vase was probably of local manufacture.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/245582