Apollo playing his lyre (Delphi)

Handpainted fresco, scene from Attic kylix of the first quarter of the 5th century B.C.

It depicts the god Apollo in a very typical posture: the god, against a white background, is seated on a stool (diphros). He wears a white tunic (chiton) and a purple himation which wraps the lower part of his body. He wears a wreath of myrtle leaves on the head, decorating his hair which is tied at the back of his head. With his right hand he pours some wine from a shallow bowl (phiale) thus performing a libation, whereas in his left hand he holds a seven-stringed lyre with a sound-box made of a turtle's shell, a precursor of the guitar. Opposite the god stands a black bird. Some scholars relate it to the art of divination, whereas others identify it with a rook, associating it thus with the myth of Koronis, daughter of the king Phlegyas, with whom Apollo had fallen in love.

Delphi, Greece

12 x 12 cm