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Black-Figure Amphora with Athena

British Museum

This amphora, a two-handled storage jar, is painted with an image of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, in her armor with helmet, spear and shield. Athenian potters exported fine painted vases like this throughout the Mediterranean, and many of the best-preserved examples were found in Etruscan tombs in Italy.

Athena was a favorite subject of Athenian vase painters, shown at her birth from the head of Zeus, fighting the giants, or protecting heroes such as Herakles.


Polycam
6th century BCE
British Museum
Terracotta
Athens, Greece
Vase