Maenad Playing the Aulos — Kylix

This figure is most probably a musician playing the double aulos (a double-reed pipe), or a woman taking part in the Dionysiac procession (thiasos).

The figure plays a two-piped aulos. In ancient Greece the aulos, unlike the flute, is a reed wind instrument, used above all at Dionysiac festivals, in the theatre and at religious ceremonies. The figure wears a long chiton and carries a spotted nebris (a deer or panther skin) on the back. This detail strengthens the link with the cult of Dionysos. The vegetal motif seen at the front is most probably a vine branch or ivy — these too are among the most important symbols of Dionysos.

Who she might be: a Maenad, one of the female followers of Dionysos (she may be accompanying the ritual on the aulos; Maenads did not only dance, they also made music); a professional female aulos player (auletris); or a member of the sacred procession made up of Satyrs, Maenads and musicians. The iconographic assessment favours a Maenad playing the aulos: she carries an animal skin, the vegetal motif evokes Dionysos, the aulos is the indispensable instrument of the Dionysiac cult, and the stance of the figure resembles a scene from a moving procession.

On the vessel form: The original ancient kylix is a wine cup with a wide mouth, shallow body, slender foot and two horizontal handles. The circular pictorial field at the centre of its interior is called the *tondo*. As the wine is drunk the tondo gradually comes into view and the image seems to "reveal itself" to the drinker — one of the most striking features of ancient Greek ceramic art. This work likewise has a tondo at its centre, with the figure placed inside that circular field. The composition follows the interior decorative logic of ancient red-figure kylikes. However, since the handles are somewhat thicker and the body deeper, it stands less as an exact Attic kylix than as a contemporary interpretation of the kylix composition.