Olympic games at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora, Greek, Attic, black-figure, ca. 560 - 550 B.C.
Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora, Greek, Attic, black-figure, ca. 560 – 550 B.C.

In a private moment of Olympics-mania today, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s installation of Panathenaic prize amphora to reconnect with ancient Olympians.  One of the earliest of such vessels (560-550 B.C.) in the Met’s collection, it was filled with olive oil and awarded to winners of events like the 200 yard race depicted here.  If you were an Olympic winner, would you rather have a gold metal or 42 liters of olive oil?

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Merrily Kerr

Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer based in New York. For more than 20 years, Merrily has published in international art magazines including Time Out New York, Art on Paper, Flash Art, Art Asia Pacific, Art Review, and Tema Celeste in addition to writing catalogue essays and guest lecturing. Merrily teaches art appreciation at Marymount Manhattan College and has taught for Cooper Union Continuing Education. For more than a decade Merrily has crafted personalized tours of cultural discovery in New York's galleries and museums for individuals and groups, including corporate tours, collectors, artists, advertising agencies, and student groups from Texas Woman's University, Parsons School of Design, Chicago's Moody Institute, Cooper Union Continuing Education, Hunter College Continuing Education and other institutions. Merrily's tours have been featured in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Sydney Morning Herald and Philadelphia Magazine. Merrily is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA)