Detail of a Black Figure Amphora Attributed to Group E in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, June 2018

Black-Figure Amphora (Storage Vessel) (Primary Title)

attributed to, Group E, Greek (Artist)

Date: 540 BC

Culture: Greek (Attic)

Category: Ceramics
Containers-Vessels

Medium: terracotta

Collection: Ancient Art

Dimensions: Overall: 16 1/4 × 11 1/8 in. (41.28 × 28.26 cm)

Object Number: 62.17

Herakles was the most popular hero of antiquity and was frequently worshipped as a god. He is best known for the twelve labors he performed to atone for killing his wife and children in a fit of madness. His first labor was to slay a fearsome lion that was devouring the people of Nemea (near Corinth). Since swords and arrows could not penetrate the lion’s hide, Herakles killed it with a club and used the beast’s own claws to skin it; afterward, he wore the skin as both a trophy and protective garment.

Additional Information

Credit Line: Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund

Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-227201962