This amphora is painted with a figure of Athena, goddess of wisdom and war and patron of Athens. In the red-figure technique, introduced in Athens around 530 BCE, figures were left in the red color of the clay and the background painted black, allowing painters to draw finer details.
Athena was one of the most frequently depicted deities on Athenian pottery, and the Panathenaic festival held in her honor awarded prize amphorae filled with olive oil.