About This Artwork

Greek, made near Athens
Attributed to the Chicago Painter (his Name Vase)

Stamnos (Wine Jar), c. 450 B.C.

Terracotta, red-figure technique
Height: 37 cm (14 5/8 in.); Diameter of handles: 41.9 cm (16 1/2 in.); Diameter of rim: 21.1 cm (8 5/16 in.)
Gift of Philip D. Armour and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1889.22

Ancient and Byzantine Art
Not on Display

Greek vases were made for use, but they were also prized for their refined shapes and adornment that we continue to admire today. This example, a stamnos, probably held wine and is said to have been found in Capua, Italy, in 1884. It is decorated in the red-figure technique, so called because the figures have been left in the natural reddish-orange color of the clay and surrounded by black glaze. The scene depicts three maenads, or female followers of the wine god Dionysos, celebrating a rite in his honor, which includes placing a wreath around the neck of a stamnos.