Art Institute of Chicago

Kylix (Drinking Cup)

Attributed to the Workshop of Nikosthenes

Date

530-520 BCE

Medium

terracotta, black-figure

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This vase honors Dionysos as the god of both wine and the theater. When the drinker raised the cup to his mouth, it doubled almost as a theatrical mask, with the handles serving as ears and the circular hollow representing a mouth. The round, wide eyes staring back at the viewer symbolize the intoxicating effects of the drink, the wine god’s gaze, or both. Drinking vessels decorated in this manner are called eye cups. Sometimes a nose appeared between the eyes, but the painter of this cup drew boxers, perhaps to celebrate the winner of a local match.

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