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Hydria (water vessel): Herakles Wrestling a Triton

Hydria (water vessel): Herakles Wrestling a Triton

Artist: The Painter of Vatican G 43
Date: about 540-530 BCE
Dimensions:
H (to lip): 17 7/32 in. (43.7 cm); Diam (mouth): 9 7/16 in. (24 cm); Diam (shoulder): 12 7/32 in. (31 cm); Diam (foot): 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)
Medium: Black Figure; Wheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware with incised details
Place of Origin: Greece, Attica
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 1956.69
Label Text:In the main scene on this hydria, the hero Herakles, wearing his lion skin “armor,” battles Triton, the half-man, half-fish son of the sea god Poseidon. Poseidon stands behind Triton’s tail with a sea nymph (Nereid). The scene on the shoulder shows Herakles welcomed as an immortal among the gods, including Athena (getting into a chariot), Hermes (behind the horses), and Dionysos (with an ivy wreath in his hair). The bottom register depicts a horse race.
DescriptionAbove: Athena mounting a chariot.
Center: Herakles wrestling a Triton.
Below: a horse race.
Not on view
In Collection(s)