On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Red-figured Hydria: Zeus and two goddesses,
ca. 470–450 BCE
Attributed to the Niobid Painter
Greek, Attic
y1933-42
In the ancient Mediterranean, divine bodies could be shown using many representational strategies: the gods could be painted on vases or fashioned from bronze, marble, or wood; they might be rendered so small that they could sit in one’s hand, or so large that they towered over worshippers; and many gods could be depicted in multiple shapes and forms or with different iconographic attributes. These choices dramatically affected how a god’s image was perceived and, as a consequence, how the god’s presence could be experienced by their worshippers. Surviving ancient literary accounts describe how particularly striking images of the gods could elicit powerful responses in their viewers, provoking epiphanies, or sacred visions of the divine.
Information
Title
Red-figured Hydria: Zeus and two goddesses
Dates
ca. 470–450 BCE
Maker
Attributed to the Niobid Painter
Medium
Ceramic
Dimensions
h. 32.6 cm, diam. rim 13.5 cm (12 13/16 x 5 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan, Class of 1888
Object Number
y1933-42
Inscription
Graffito on foot, incised after firing: [ZE]
Culture
Materials
Lot no. 365 in the 1899 sale of the collection of Thomas Benedict Clark; bequest of Junius S. Morgan to the Museum in 1933
- F. F. Jones and R. Goldberg, Ancient art in the Art Museum: Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1960)., p. 10; p. 11 (illus.)
- J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-figure \Vase-painters, 2nd ed., (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963)., no. 145
- Mathias Prange, Der Niobidenmaler und seine Werkstatt: Untersuchungen zu einer Vasenwerkstatt frühklassischer Zeit, (Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1989)., p. 189; no. N84, pl. 4 (right)
