Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• Two-thirds of the way down Room 15 (on the left) is a glass case containing a vase.
Wine Cooler Signed by Douris as Painter
This clay vessel (490
B.C.),
called a
psykter
, would have been topped off with wine and
floated in a bowl of cooling water. Its red-figure drawings show satyrs at a
symposium,
or
drinking party. These half-man/half-animal creatures (notice their tails) had a reputation
for lewd behavior, reminding the balanced and moderate Greeks of their rude roots.
The reveling figures painted on this jar are realistic and three-dimensional; their
movements are more naturalistic than the literally three-dimensional but quite stiff kouros.
The Greeks are beginning to conquer the natural world in art. The art, like life, is more in
balance. And speaking of “balance,” if that's a Greek sobriety test, revel on.
•
Carry on into Room 17 and sit facing the Greek temple at the far end.
