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White-Ground Lekythos (Oil Vessel): Atalanta and Erotes
attributed to Douris (Greek, Attic, active c. 500–470 BCE)
c. 500–490 BCE
- Medium
- ceramic
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Dimensions
- Overall: 31.8 cm (12 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Greek, Attic
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Greek and Roman Art
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Known as "white-ground" because of the white clay slip applied as a surface for figural decoration, vases of this type give some idea of the appearance of lost ancient large-scale wall paintings. Both remarkably well preserved and masterfully composed, the images cover the entire circumference of the vase. At the center, Atalanta, the virgin huntress renowned for both her speed and her opposition to marriage, races to the right while looking back at Eros, the winged god of love; both figures are named. This Eros, bounding forward, tries to crown her, while two additional Erotes (also named) further hem her in. Love will win.
