Art Institute of Chicago

Amphora (Storage Jar)

Attributed to the Achilles Painter

Date

460-450 BCE

Medium

terracotta, red-figure

Culture

Athens

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This vase has a distinctive shape characterized by an elongated ovoid body on a thick disk foot, an offset flaring neck, an inverted lip with grooves for a lid, and handles that rise from the shoulder and curve below the height of the mouth to join the neck. The type is called a Nolan amphora, after Nola, Italy, the site where the first examples of this shape were discovered and where this example was also found. It probably contained wine, olives, or oil. Nolan amphorae are small, usually less than fifteen inches high. Figures are drawn between the handles on the front and back. Below, a length of meander pattern provides a ground line.

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