Hydria (neck) with White-on-Black Feast Scene featuring Maenads and Satyrs
Maenads were a popular subject in Classical Athenian pottery, often depicted alongside satyrs. These scenes, common on wine-drinking vessels used during symposia, celebrated Dionysus through lively revelry. Maenads are easily recognized by their flowing hair, loose garments, animal skins, ivy garlands, and thyrsoi. They are frequently portrayed barefoot, symbolizing their wild nature.
The maenads’ chaotic and frenzied behavior is famously depicted in Euripides’ The Bacchae (405 BC), which dramatizes the return of Dionysus to Thebes and the ensuing social disorder caused by uninhibited female rage.
This neck amphora, originally in the red-figure style, has been reinterpreted by our vase painter in the white-on-black (Six technique, late 6th to mid-5th century BC), producing an exquisite piece. First made in 2019, it is now crafted to order.
Dimensions H: 40cm , Max L: 40cm