Arula with Herakles Fighting Triton
Unknown (Sicily) · c. 550-525 BC
A small clay altar, about half a metre wide, is decorated on three sides with scenes in relief, and its painted colours are astonishingly fresh. On the front Herakles, bearded and wearing a short embroidered tunic, seizes a sea monster, most likely Triton, whose body ends in a fish tail and who holds a fish and perhaps a wreath. On the left side the hero attacks a centaur with a sword, probably Nessos, who sinks to the ground. Along the top runs a band of meanders and swastikas. Look at the brown-pink flesh of Herakles and the purple-brown paint of the hair and clothing.
Altars like this, called arulae, were used in houses and small shrines in the Greek cities of Sicily and southern Italy; offerings burned on the flat top, and two round vents at the back let the heat escape. The grey, mica-flecked clay is typical of Sicilian workshops of the third quarter of the sixth century BC. The right side is worn, but the front and left side are among the best-preserved painted terracottas of their date. It was given to the Louvre in 1971 by a donor who kept the use of it for life.
Did You Know? Two small holes at the back are vents that let the heat out when offerings were burned on top of the altar.
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