South Italian Askos with a Pair of Scyllae in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2018

Terracotta askos (flask with a handle over the top),3rd century B.C.

Object Details

Period: Hellenistic

Date: 3rd century B.C.

Culture: Greek, South Italian, Canosan

Medium: Terracotta

Dimensions: H. 17 3/8 in. (44.20 cm.)
D. 16 in. (40.7 cm.)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Frederic H. Betts, 1911

Accession Number: 11.43


Scylla, the Homeric monster with the upper body of an alluring woman and scaly limbs eminating from her hips, rises from the body of this vase. Scylla lurked in a cave on the Straits of Messina, seizing and devouring passing dolphins, sharks, or sailors. Scylla was a popular subject on Canosan vases of this type, which characteristically combine sculpted and painted images. On the body of this vase remain traces of the richly colored ornament in pink and blue paint on a white slip.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/248471