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The artist behind this vessel has been identified as the Boreads Painter, who led one of Sparta's most prominent pottery workshops between 575 and 550 B.C. As with most Greek vase painters, his true name is unknown, and he is recognized solely by his distinctive style, especially his way of rendering figures and his signature use of pomegranate bands to frame interior scenes. The name Boreads Painter derives from one of his tondo designs, which depicts the Boreads, sons of the North Wind.
The exterior decoration consists of three ornamental friezes encircling the underside of the bowl: a row of pomegranates with double petals, a series of upright tongues painted alternately in black and purple, and a band of broad upright rays. From the bases of the handles, horizontal palmettes extend outward.
Stemmed drinking cups like this one were a hallmark of Laconia, the region surrounding Sparta.
The interior of this kylix (drinking cup) features a dynamic scene of Bellerophon battling the Chimera, a fire-breathing creature with the body of a lion, a goat emerging from its back, and a snake for a tail. In his right hand, Bellerophon holds the reins of his winged horse, Pegasus, which rears up to confront the monster. The hero is depicted in a kneeling pose, a convention in Archaic Greek art (circa 700β480 B.C.) to signify rapid movement.
The Medusa's transforming star is the faint one near the center of the overall bright crescent shape. In this deep telescopic view, fainter filaments clearly extend below and to the left. The Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.
The planetary nebula phase represents a final stage in the evolution of low mass stars like the sun as they transform themselves from red giants to hot white dwarf stars and in the process shrug off their outer layers. Ultraviolet radiation from the hot star powers the nebular glow.
#Astrology Astro Photo of the Day
Braided and serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggest this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21, this Medusa is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Gemini. Like its mythological namesake, the nebula is associated with a dramatic transformation.
WORD OF THE DAY:
Volition
Definition: (noun) The act or an instance of making a conscious choice or decision.
Synonyms: willing
Usage: Without volition I leaned toward her, as a tree is swayed by the wind.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
"Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground." - Theodore Roosevelt
FACT OF THE DAY:
The first film ever made in Hollywood was D.W. Griffithβs 1910 In Old California, a biograph melodrama about a Spanish maiden (Marion Leonard) who has an illegitimate son with a man who later becomes governor of California. It was shot in two days.
