Art Institute of Chicago

Fish Plate

Attributed to the Hippocamp Group

Date

350-325 BCE

Medium

terracotta, red-figure

Culture

Canosa di Puglia

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This footed plate was made to serve succulent morsels of grilled seafood, like the fish that are painted on its surface. Greece and Italy are peninsulas projecting into seas brimming with marine life. A primary source of protein, seafood was a basic staple of the ancient Mediterranean diet; it remains so today. Keen observers of their subjects, ancient vase painters so accurately captured the shapes and markings of the fish they depicted that it is possible to identify most of them by species. On this example, three slightly different, pleasingly plump bream with bright white details appear to swim after one another. A running wave pattern around the central concavity, with a gently sloped floor for collecting juices or serving sauces, recalls the sea, the source of the bounty.

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