Caeretan hydria

A Caeretan hydria is a type of ancient Greek painted vase, belonging to the black-figure style.

[1] Their geographic origin is disputed by scholars, but in recent years the view that they were produced by two potter-painters who had emigrated from East Greece to Caere in Etruria has gained ground.

The majority were excavated in Caere, after which site they were named by Carl Humann and Otto Puchstein.

The style resembles Ionian vase painting and multicoloured wooden panels found in Egypt.

The feet, handle attachments and inside of the mouth are decorated with alternating red and black flames.

The necks are decorated with meanders, spiral crosses or polychrome budded tendrils, a single known piece features a bucranium.

[2] He also distinguished the two masters to whom the vases are ascribed, but his distinction of potters and painters of ornaments has not prevailed.

Herakles generally occurs frequently, e.g. with Nessos, Acheloos, the Nemean Lion, Alkyoneus or Pholos.

There are also images of Odysseus and Polyphemus, Europa, Dionysos and the return of Hephaistos to Mount Olympus.