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Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Flask) with Pursuit Scene (possibly Peleus and Thetis)

Artwork Tombstone
Attributed ToThe Brygos Painter
CultureGreek
TitleRed-Figure Lekythos (Oil Flask) with Pursuit Scene (possibly Peleus and Thetis)
Date480–470 BCE
MediumTerracotta
DimensionsOverall: 13 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. (34.3 x 12.1 cm)
Credit LineEskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number77.30.3
This artwork is currently off display. You may be able to see this artwork by filling out an art viewing room request.
Flask with a narrow body and a thin neck that widens into a flat rim. It is decorated with a pursuit scene on the body featuring a man and a woman.

Flask with a narrow body and a thin neck that widens into a flat rim. It is decorated with a pursuit scene on the body featuring a man and a woman.

Red-Figure pottery developed in response to the black-figure technique. Principle aspects of design were preserved but the overall effect is reversed: rather than creating a black figure on a reserved ground, the figure is reserved (in the red of the clay) and the background is covered in a black gloss. The details in the figures could then be painted on, rather than incised. This development allowed for greater fluidity and was useful to artists who were increasingly interested in movement and naturalism.

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Red-Figure Lekythos (Oil Flask) with Pursuit Scene (possibly Peleus and Thetis) | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=77.30.3