Attic Melanomorph Amphora (Belly A) of Exekias as both a potter and painter (540-530 BC). Found in Vulci, Italy, he is exhibited in the Gregorian Museum of the Vatican.
This famous amphora, signed by Exekias, can justifiably be counted among the masterpieces of this artist and of Attic pottery in general. The painting technique is accompanied by meticulous engraving work to render details and ornamentation. His representations:
The episode represented, foreign to the Homeric tradition, is charged with the tragedy of future events despite the apparent tranquility of the anecdote. Achilles and Ajax, identified by inscriptions, like the other characters, sit and play dice. Read the points they have won, four and three respectively, as indicated by the inscriptions that come out of their mouths as if in a comic book. On the other side, the family of the Dioscuri is depicted. Castor holds the reins of the horse Cyllaros and turns to Leda, who offers him ears of wheat, while Polydeuces plays with a dog and Tyndareus strokes the horse's noseA
