Black-figure belly amphora with incised linear decoration and applied red and white paint. A row of double palmettes surmounts the scene on each side, a band of rays above the foot. Though made in Athens, it is likely this vase was exported to Italy.

Side A: Herakles wrestles the Nemean lion, Iolus stands to the left and holds his bow and club. The hero's quiver is suspended in front of the draped female to the right, likely identified as Athena.
Side B: Two men in a quadriga led by Hermes and flanked by a warrior, archer and two female figures. The heads of the two men and one of the warriors break into the row of double palmettes. Graffiti beneath the foot: AEN.

Reconstituted from fragments, a few areas of restoration and some repainting, including the crown of the Nemean lion's head and a section of its tail. The applied white used for the women's faces and arms, the shield decoration and Hermes' helmet has all but gone. 


Herakles is one of the favourite subjects for this the Antimenes Painter. As repentance for murdering his family in the fit of insane fury, which the goddess Hera had cast upon him, Herakles was required to complete twelve labours. The present example shows the first of these labours, wherein Herakles had to slay the Nemean lion, a ferocious beast whose impenetrable skin rendered the hero's weapons useless. Iolus, Herakles' nephew and charioteer, holds the redundant weaponry whilst Herakles wrestles the lion barehanded, finally choking it to death. Once victorious, Herakles skinned the lion with its own claw, and wore the pelt as protective armour for all subsequent labours; it became one of his most recognisable attributes.