South Italian, Apulian / c. 370–360 BCE
Red-Figure Bell Krater (Mixing Vessel): Aphrodite and Eros
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Red-Figure Bell Krater (Mixing Vessel): Aphrodite and Eros as ceramic (South Italian, Apulian · c. 370–360 BCE).
The dancing nude youths on the reverse are unusual; typically they would be standing and draped.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this ceramic as ceramic and credits Graz Painter (South Italian, Apulian, active c. 380–360 BCE).
The museum's collection notes: This small mixing vessel shows a finely dressed woman seated on a chest and holding up a mirror to admire herself. Before her stands Eros, the winged god of love, holding a ribbon or sash. Behind the woman stands a pillar with the inscription ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ, or APHRODITE, the goddess of love. Such labels are rare on vases, and scholars debate whether this names the woman shown as Aphrodite herself, with her son Eros, or a bride envisioning herself as Aphrodite, just before her wedding.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtRed-Figure Bell Krater (Mixing Vessel): Aphrodite and ErosOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.