The central image (transposed here into bronze) is from the tondo of a red-figure kylix (drinking cup) by the Oedipus painter.
Oedipus ponders the riddle of the sphinx, which was: 'What walks on four legs at dawn, two at noon and three at dusk?' (Man) Oedipus solved the riddle and the sphinx, in despair at being outwitted, hurled herself from a rock to her death. The original is in the Vatican Museum and dates to ca 500BC.
bronze oil lamp with Oedipus and the sphinx
- Length: 25cm























