Attributed to Python as painter
Greek, Paestum in southern Italy
Mixing vessel (calyx‑krater), about 350 ‑ 340 BC
Earthenware with slip decoration
18 × 15 1/2 × 7 1/2 (diam. of foot) in. (45.7 × 39.4 × 19.1 cm.)
Gift of the Charter Collectors  1990.7

How Was This Made?
Red-figure vases, such as this one, depict mythological subjects in red against a black background. The artist Python shaped the body of this krater using a wheel. He probably modeled the handles separately. Python didn’t use paint. Instead he applied solutions of diluted clays to define the background and fine details of the scene. These solutions, called slip, turned black or white when the vase was fired in the kiln. He let the red color of the clay itself show through and define the forms of the figures.

You Are Cordially Invited…
…to a Greek symposium (a banquet or social gathering). Dionysus is in attendance, reclining on the couch in the center of the room. He’s playing a game called kottabos. Watch as he prepares to throw the wine dregs in his cup at the tall stand. If they hit the disk balanced on top and make it crash like a cymbal down below, he wins. A drinking game played by the god of wine seems a fitting subject for a calyx-krater, a flowershaped bowl used to mix wine with water.