Attic Black-Figure Amphora

Painted with a delicate but sure hand, this exquisite vase dates to the transitional period between Archaic and Classical Greece. Originally meant to hold oil or wine, it was exported in antiquity to meet the demands of an eager market in Italy. On one side it depicts the wine god Dionysus holding a drinking horn and attended by two dancing Maenads. On the other is a scene from the mythical Trojan War, very possibly Priam ransoming Hector’s body from Achilles. Centuries ago, this lovely amphora was prized by its owner; when we hold it in our hands today, we share that emotion with a vanished age.