Detail of a Terracotta Bell-Krater Attributed to the Methyse Painter in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2018

Title: Terracotta bell-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)

Artist: Attributed to the Methyse Painter

Period: Classical

Date: ca. 450 BCE

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Terracotta; red-figure

Dimensions: H. 19 1/2 in. (49.5 cm)
diameter 22 1/4 in. (56.5 cm)

Classification: Vases

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1907

Accession Number: 07.286.85

Obverse and reverse, Dionysos, the god of wine, with his followers, satyrs and maenads

Belonging to the group around the Villa Giulia Painter, the Methyse Painter takes his name from the lyre-playing maenad in front of Dionysos (methyse means "drunk"). The figures' incipient inebriation is subtly suggested. The key is Dionysos—slow-moving with downcast, introverted expression and stabilized by a young satyr who wraps his arms around the god's middle. The satyrs and maenads on the reverse are more active. One maenad holds her thyrsos (fennel stalk) ready to parry an assault. The figures under each handle are engaged in an eternal pursuit.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/247965