Detail of the Terracotta Bell Krater Attributed to the Altamura Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 2019

Terracotta Bell-Krater (Bowl for Mixing Wine and Water)
Greek, Attic, Red-Figure, ca. 465-460 BC
Attributed to the Altamura Painter

Obverse: Dionysos and Oinopion
Reverse: Javelin thrower between flute player and Nike (personification of victory)

Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Ferrara
Lent by the Republic of Italy, Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Emilia Romagna, 2012. (L.2012.57)

The bell-krater was one of several large vessels that held diluted wine at symposia, the gatherings at which Athenian men enjoyed conversation and entertainment. The subject matter on these vases often includes Dionysos, the god of wine. Here, the decoration is noteworthy for the melding of the divine and human realms. Identified by the thyrsos (fennel stalk topped with ivy), in his left hand and the fawn skin on his chair, Dionysos wraps a large hand around the waist of his son Oinopion, who stands on his lap. The boy holds a vine branch and a kantharos, the drinking cup characteristic of his father. The scene presents the god's gift to the Greeks with a touching combination of formality and familiarity in the relationship between the figures.

The krater comes from Spina, in northeastern Italy, the site of a vast Etruscan cemetery where thousands of tombs have yielded one of the richest assemblages of imported Athenian vases of the early fifth to early fourth century BC, among other finds.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.