Neck Amphora (storage jar): Nereus (or Triton) with Scepter and Dolphin; Woman Running

The Berlin Painter

c. 490 BCE

Terracotta

Arthur M. Sackler Museum

A black-figure amphora depicts a merman-like figure with a fish tail, holding a scepter and a dolphin. A decorative meander pattern encircles the base of the scene. A black-figure amphora depicts a merman-like figure with a fish tail, holding a scepter and a dolphin. A decorative meander pattern encircles the base of the scene. On one side: a half-anthropomorphic, half-fish sea-god, Nereus, or perhaps Triton. He faces to the right and carries a scepter in his right hand with his little finger extended, and a dolphin in his left, which he holds by the tail. He has long curly hair tied into a bun and a beard. He wears a wreath in added red on his head, and a cloak (himation) decorated with triple dot motifs over a long-sleeved tunic (chiton). Instead of legs, he has a huge fish tail, which rises