The object in context
The museum identifies this Attic red-figure cup as made and painted by Douris, with two signatures. Dated around 490–480 BCE, it was produced in Athens and found at Cerveteri in Etruria. The painted subject includes Heracles and Telamon fighting Amazons. Production place, findspot and represented story are three different kinds of information.
Try this when you look
Follow the image around the cup instead of treating one photograph as the entire scene. Locate the handles and ask how holding or turning the vessel changes the visible narrative. Record one detail of shape, one of painting and one supplied by the collection record.
Before you visit
The museum currently reports that the Greek gallery is temporarily inaccessible during works in the Antiquities wing. It describes a proposed temporary presentation by 2028, not a guaranteed display now. Check that notice before planning a visit specifically for Douris’s cup.
- Whole image — Describe the strongest visible contrast.
- Locate a detail — Follow a colour, gesture or line.
- Compare — Test your observation on a second work.
- Question — Ask what evidence could change your reading.