Monday, March 16, 2009

Achilles Fragment: Web Project Sorts Out Identities

Today I'd like to highlight a web project put on by the Princeton Museum in NJ (which has a FABULOUS ancient collection, by the way - but that will be for another day!).

From the Princeton Museum's website:

"In this project, the viewer is able to clarify the fragmentary composition by selectively clicking on individual figures or objects, highlighting them in contrast to their surroundings. The fragment from an ancient clay pot was made in Athens about 515–510 B.C. Attributed to the vase-painter Euphronios, it derives from a calyx-crater, a vessel for mixing wine and water. The subject is an episode from the Trojan War. The Greek warrior Ajax, whose head is missing, braces himself on a pair of spears as he stoops to retrieve the helmet of the dead Achilles, whose body hangs limply over his shoulder. The legs of a third Greek and of a fallen Trojan are visible in the background, beyond the shield on Ajax’s left arm. The ankle of a fifth figure is preserved in the lower left corner."

Click here to check out the web project.

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