In fact the bodies are reduced to the form of ancient Greek shields. We see chariots, we see horsemen, we see soldiers with shieldsĪnd spears and swords. The bandīelow shows a procession and it's military in nature. Might not even notice at first that you were lookingĪt a narrative scene, that you were looking at human figures. That the deceased figure is on or the legs of the chair. Legs are larger shapes as are the legs of the table The torsos are nearly perfect triangles, the heads which are shown in profile are basically circles I love how the human forms are nearly as abstractĪs the geometric motifs that fill the rest of the vase. That's above the deceased figure represents his funerary shroud but lifted so that we can see the body. And it's also possible that that checkerboard pattern And some art historians have interpreted the decorative lines on either side of the figuresĪs a reference to tears. Of him, the female figures, have raised their arms Scene along the top register shows us a figure onĪ bier, a dead figure, who's being mourned and the figures on either side Pot has pictorial bands which we call friezes and in them, and this is a little bit unusualįor the geometric period, we see human figures and we see animals and the pictures remind We also seeīroad areas of black paint and stripped areas that form the base. You see diamonds and trianglesĪnd circles and meanders. Period in Greek history and the style that isĪssociated with is geometric because the surface isĬovered with geometric motifs. This particular vase comes from an early It isĬovered, every inch of this, with decoration and that decoration is divided in two bands or registers. This vase so important, so extraordinary, is its decoration.

Liquid was poured in the top as an offering for the deceased. And in fact theīottom of this vase is open and it's possible that Headstones to mark a gravesite but the Greeks used ceramic vessels. Normally when we think about ancient Greek vases, we think about containersįor wine or liquids but this ceramic pot hadĪ very different purpose. The shape of this vase makes it a crater and it was found at theĭipylon cemetery in Athens.

Metropolitan Museum of Art looking at a gigantic clay pot.

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