Black-figure hydria (water vessel)
SWING PAINTER
(attributed to) (Greek, Attic, active ca. 550-525 BCE)
Black-figure hydria (water vessel)
Dateca. 530 BCE
Mediumceramic
Dimensionsobject: 18 1/2 × 17 × 13 1/2 in. (47 × 43.2 × 34.3 cm)
ClassificationCERAMICS
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Wright S. Ludington
Object number1955.3.4
Subject(s)
- animal
- horse
- mythology
Collection
- Antiquity
Sub-Collection(s)
- Black-figure
- Greek
On View
On viewLabel TextMany images show women in ancient Greece meeting at public fountains to gather water using pots like this one. The three-handled design allows it to be carried and used for pouring, while the large size provides ample surface for decoration. The main scene here probably represents a chariot procession of the god Apollo who wears white and holds a stringed musical instrument known as a lyre. Above there is an episode from the story of the Trojan war which occurred at a fountain house outside Troy’s walls. The Greek hero Achilles has ambushed the young Trojan prince Troilos. With Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, watching, Achilles lunges forward with his sword. Troilos’s horse rears back and his sister Polyxena flees having dropped the water vessel she was carrying. Achilles will pursue Troilos to the altar of Apollo, where he will kill him and anger the god. The use of interlocking themes to weave together the two scenes and the function of the object itself is typical for vase painting from this period. A later Roman sculpture of Achilles chasing Troilos can also be viewed in Ludington Court.
