Detail of the Terracotta Neck-Amphora Attributed to Exekias in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2013

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Attributed to Exekias

Period: Archaic

Date: ca. 540 B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; black-figure

Dimensions: H. 18 1/2 in. (47 cm) diameter 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1917

Accession Number: 17.230.14a, b

Description:

On the body, obverse and reverse, man and woman in chariot accompanied by woman and kithara player

On the shoulder, combat of foot soldiers and horsemen

Black-figure was a cumbersome, restricted, and quite artificial technique. The vases in this room testify to the variety of effect and the forcefulness of expression that is nonetheless permitted. Probably the greatest single black-figure artist was Exekias, who was both potter and painter. Although the essential ingredients of this work are traditional, its particular character is evident in the robust shape, the extraordinary precision and vitality in the figures and ornament, and the perfect relation of the decorative elements to the body beneath.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/250551