T20.2 ATLAS & GAIA

Museum Collection: Dallas Museum of Art, Texas, USA
Catalogue No.: TBA
Beazley Archive No.: N/A
Ware: Apulian Red Figure
Shape: Krater, volute
Painter: Attributed to the Underworld Painter
Date: C4th BC
Period: Late Classical / Early Hellenistic

SUMMARY

Detail of Atlas from a painting depicting the story of Herakles' quest for the golden apples. The Titan is seated on a throne in the guise of a king, holding a royal sceptre. Herakles, accompanied by Hermes, approaches him from the left (not shown). On the right stands Gaia, the goddess earth, along with a Hesperid and the serpent-entwined tree (not shown). The tree was Gaia's weddding gift to Hera. The figures of Atlas and Gaia (Ga) both have name labels.