Cleveland Museum of Art

Red-Figure Ram-Head Rhyton (Drinking Vessel): Symposiasts; Satyr and Maenad

Brygos Painter

Date

c. 480–470 BCE

Medium

ceramic

Culture

Greek, Attic

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Although now missing nearly half of its mold-made ram’s head, this rhyton , a kind of drinking horn, retains most of its painted red-figure sections. On the wheel-made bowl above, three symposiasts recline at a drinking party: a youth wearing a kidaris (flapped Scythian hat) and two bearded men holding drinking cups. The youth plays the pipes, while a lyre hangs nearby and one man throws his head back in song. The letters around them, which do not spell out known words, may allude to the music in the air. Flanking the handle are a pipe-playing satyr and a dancing maenad (only partially preserved). This vessel once had a foot, but only a bit of its stem remains.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.