bavarikon4UDescription
The painting on an oil flask, a vessel for ointments ("Lekythos"), is by the so-called Achilles painter. You can see a young woman on a rock, which is called "Helicon" by an inscription. This is a mountain in the central Greek landscape of Boeotia. In antiquity, it was thought that this was the home of the nine Muses – the daughters of Zeus, the father of the gods, who were considered to be goddesses of the arts under Apollo's leadership.
The young woman is thus presented to us as a Muse. She plays the lyre. Opposite her stands another young woman, who listens with her head slightly lowered to the play of the other one. She wears a thin undergarment with a red cloak made of heavier material above it. A little bird sits on the ground between the musician and the listener.
Although the picture is characterised by its idyllic atmosphere, the draughtsmanship of the figures impresses by the very simple lines and, at the same time, by the lively colour modelling of the details. The fact that outline drawing of the picture is set against a white background bestows additional charm to the depiction. Vase painters in Athens developed this special technique in the late sixth century BC. It reached its peak in the middle of the fifth century. The most important representative was the "Achilles" painter.