Euphronios Krater. The Euphronios Krater is an ancient Greek terra cotta calyx-krater, a bowl used for mixing wine with water.
Created around the year 515 BC, it is the only complete example of the surviving 27 vases painted by the renowned Euphronios and is considered one of the finest Greek vase artifacts in existence. Part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1972 to 2008, the vase was repatriated to Italy under an agreement negotiated in February 2006, and is now in the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Cerveteri as part of a strategy of returning stolen works of art to their place of origin.
The Euphronios krater stands 45.7 cm in height and has a diameter of 55.1 cm. It can hold about 45 L. The style of the vase is red-figure pottery, in which figure outlines, details, and the background are painted with an opaque black slip while the figures themselves are left in the color of the unpainted terracotta ceramic clay. The krater is decorated with two scenes.
An episode from the Trojan War is shown on the obverse; this illustration depicts the death of Sarpedon, son of Zeus and Laodamia. The reverse of the krater shows a contemporary scene of Athenian youths from the sixth century BC arming themselves before battle.
In the scene of Sarpedon's death, the god Hermes directs the personifications of Sleep and Death to carry the fallen away to his homeland for burial. W