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A work made of terracotta, red-figure.

Rhyton (Drinking Vessel) in the Shape of a Donkey Head

480-470 BCE

Attributed to the Painter of London E 55 (Manner of Douris) Greek; Athens

Athens

This drinking cup could not have been set down without its contents spilling. It is fashioned after the head of a bridled donkey with a white muzzle, teeth, and ears. Like the naked satyr chasing a fleeing maenad on the vessel’s neck, the donkey belongs to the retinue of the wine god Dionysos.

terracotta, red-figure

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium