Getty Museum, 2020
Images of their collection, from my Feb. 2020 road trip.
The Nemean Lion, Hercules first labor
Attic Red-Figure Kalpis
Attributed to Aegisthus Painter (Greek (Attic)
about 470 B.C.E.
Depicted here, Hercules is grasping the lion in his mighty arms, and ignoring its powerful claws, he holds it tightly until he'd choked it to death.
"As the first of his twelve Labors, the Greek hero Hercules had to slay the Nemean Lion, a monstrous beast that was ravaging the countryside around the city of Nemea. Since weapons were of no use against the creature’s impenetrable hide, Hercule's only option was to strangle it. Hercules battling the Nemean Lion was the most frequently depicted mythological scene in Greek art. In early depictions, Hercules stands facing the lion, but by the late 500s B.C.E., the combatants were often depicted wrestling on the ground. On this Athenian red-figure kalpis, a tree bends over Hercules and the lion, indicating that the action takes place outdoors.
The kalpis is the rounded form of a hydria, or water vessel, favored by red-figure artists in this period. The three handles of the shape facilitated pouring and lifting."
Getty Museum, 2020
Images of their collection, from my Feb. 2020 road trip.
The Nemean Lion, Hercules first labor
Attic Red-Figure Kalpis
Attributed to Aegisthus Painter (Greek (Attic)
about 470 B.C.E.
Depicted here, Hercules is grasping the lion in his mighty arms, and ignoring its powerful claws, he holds it tightly until he'd choked it to death.
"As the first of his twelve Labors, the Greek hero Hercules had to slay the Nemean Lion, a monstrous beast that was ravaging the countryside around the city of Nemea. Since weapons were of no use against the creature’s impenetrable hide, Hercule's only option was to strangle it. Hercules battling the Nemean Lion was the most frequently depicted mythological scene in Greek art. In early depictions, Hercules stands facing the lion, but by the late 500s B.C.E., the combatants were often depicted wrestling on the ground. On this Athenian red-figure kalpis, a tree bends over Hercules and the lion, indicating that the action takes place outdoors.
The kalpis is the rounded form of a hydria, or water vessel, favored by red-figure artists in this period. The three handles of the shape facilitated pouring and lifting."