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Black-Figure Hydria (Water Vessel): Frontal Quadriga (Body); Theseus and Minotaur (Shoulder)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Although their subjects differ, the three fields of figured decoration on this vessel relate to one another metaphorically through the theme of victory. Just as Theseus defeats the Minotaur on the shoulder, two lions converge on a deer in the predella (the small, lowermost panel). In the largest panel, victory is still to come, presumably for all three warriors shown: one in the chariot behind his driver, and one on foot on either side. Somewhat unusually, two of the warriors look directly out at the viewer, their frontal faces an interesting complement to the much more common frontal chariot.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBlack-Figure Hydria (Water Vessel): Frontal Quadriga (Body); Theseus and Minotaur (Shoulder), c. 520 BCE. Attributed to Antimenes Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 530–510 BCE). Ceramic; overall: 43.2 cm (17 in.); diameter of rim: 24.7 cm (9 3/4 in.); diameter of foot: 15.2 cm (6 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1975.1
