Vatican Museums

A victorious athlete lifts a large tripod, surrounded by another four nude athletes in gestures of greeting and approval. On the opposite side there is a chariot of war in front view, with a charioteer and helmeted warrior, drawn by four horses depicted in various poses, frontally and in profile; the decomposition in various views confers a realistic effect of dynamism to the representation of the racing quadriga.
The amphora has been attributed to the so-called E Group by J.D. Beazley, a generic denomination that includes all the works linked to the activity of the great Attic ceramographer and potter Exekias, who indeed signed as a potter various vessels belonging to the E Group; it encompasses both the formative phase of the master and all the production that refers to his school [cf. amphora of Exekias]. It is not by chance that Exekias, who was active during the third quarter of the sixth century B.C., reserved a particular sensibility for horses, to whom he dedicated a vast repertoire, evidencing the great artist’s undoubtedly sincere passion for this animal.