About this artwork
This drinking cup depicts Herakles’s fight with the Cretan Bull, represented twice in the continuous frieze around the vase; there is a long dotted vine or ivy branch above. The hero stoops low to grasp the bull by one horn, forcing it to its knees. Behind him, as if suspended in the branch, is his cloak and his sword in its scabbard. To the left of one scene crouches a figure with a cloak around one arm and a club (presumably Iolaos with Herakles’s club), while to the left of the second version of the scene is a striding Athena, arm outstretched and covered with her snake-lined aegis - she wears a helmet and carries a spear.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium
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Culture
- Ancient Greek
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Title
- Mastoid (Drinking Cup)
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Origin
- Athens
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Date
- 500 BCE–480 BCE
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Medium
- terracotta, decorated in the black-figure technique
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Dimensions
- 8.5 × 10 × 10 cm (3 2/5 × 4× 4 in.)
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Credit Line
- Museum Purchase Fund
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Reference Number
- 1889.120
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/283/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.