Panathenaic Anaphora, Black-Figure Greek, Attic, c. 540 B.C. Joseph Veach Noble Collection Tampa Museum of Art (86.24)

This vase represents a Panathenaic prize vessel. Vases such as these were filled with precious olive oil (a most expensive commodity in the ancient world) and given as prizes at the Panathenaic Festivals every four years. These festivals consisted of athletic contests such as horse-races, foot-races, throwing contests and wrestling, all honoring Athena, the patron goddess of Athens.

The picture on the vase shows Athena as a warrior goddess with her helmet, spear and shield and her aegis, or cape with a fringe of snakes designed to show her fierce power. On the other side of the vase are two youths on horseback, denoting this vase as a prize for the winner of a horse-race.

The black-figure style of this pot is so-called because the figures are represented in black. The artist painted the figures onto the clay pot with slip, a thin mixture of clay and water. When the pot was fired in a kiln, the part painted with slip turned black while the unpainted part turned red.

This project funded through grants from the Junior League of Tampa, Inc. and the St5lte of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs, Arts in Education Program.