Euphronios Krater

The "Euphronian Krater" (also known as the "Sarpedon Krater") is a famous ancient Greek red-figure vase, a great work by the vase painter Euphronios, created around 515-510 BC. It depicts the scene of the transfer of the dead Sarpedon from Sleep and Death, while the reverse side depicts 5 hoplites, probably Trojan and Lycian soldiers, preparing to avenge the death of Sarpedon (son of Zeus and Troas in Lycia), who had been to Troy as an ally of Priam. The vase was found in Etruria and, after a long period at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was repatriated to Italy.
Characteristics:
Type: Goblet-shaped krater (vessel for mixing wine with water).
Dimensions: Height 55,1 cm. and diameter 55 cm, Content: 45 liters.
Date: 515-510 BC.
Technique: Red-figure style.
Inscriptions: It bears the inscriptions "Euxitheus created" and "Eufronios wrote", which refer to the potter and the vase painter respectively.

Museum: National Etruscan Museum

A few words about the famous artist

Euphronios is one of the most important painters of early red-figure vase painting in Attica. His painting work dates from between 520 and 505 BC, in the period known as the Early Archaic Red-figure Rhythm. However, it seems that during his period of maturity Euphronios turned to other specialties within the framework of ceramics.
He is the inspirer of the style of the so-called Pioneers in Attic vase painting. This workshop group, which flourished in the last quarter of the 6th century BC, is associated with important developments in ancient Greek painting. The Pioneers were the first vase painters to depict the human body in various poses, following trends that prevailed in sculpture at the same time. Euphronios was particularly interested in the detailed rendering of the myology in the bodies he painted, and his love of detail extended to the rendering of the eyelids in the eyes of his figures. He introduced new iconographic themes, such as the transfer of Sarpedon from the winged Sleep and Death or the struggle of Hercules with Antaeus. Another element that distinguished him from the other Pioneers is that he preferred to paint large vessels, usually calyx-shaped kraters.