Terracotta krater with lid surmounted by a small hydria

In the center panel, between the handles, two stags or goats rise on their hind legs to nibble at a tree. While the graceful long-legged animals are represented in a typically Geometric style, the motif of animals flanking a sacred tree derives from Near Eastern art. The double axes used to fill the space above the horses that face the central panel bring to mind examples from the Minoan culture that flourished on Crete during the second millennium B.C.

Attributed to the Cesnola Painter

Period:Geometric

Date:ca. 750–740 B.C.

Museum replica, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

H. 43 cm