Krater

Mr. Hoving, who appreciated the publicity value of the controversy, dubbed the krater the "hot pot." ❋ Unknown (2009)

Even before the vase, known as a krater, went on display, experts contended that it had been wrested illicitly from an Etruscan tomb near Rome. ❋ By RANDY KENNEDY (2010)

Just a few of the most famous objects, including the Euphronios krater stolen by tomb robbers and recovered three years ago from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Sarcophagus of the Spouses, an enchanting icon of connubial conviviality, rate display cases of their own. ❋ Francis X. Rocca (2011)

I spent over 10 minutes in the room with the krater on a June afternoon, and no one else came in. ❋ Unknown (2011)

The krater was in one of the two cases lit by white "sparkle" lights. ❋ Unknown (2011)

The krater was basically a punchbowl, if you were serving watered wine, but sometimes it was used like a champagne bucket fill it with ice, put your amphora or whatever in it, and the wine stayed cool. ❋ Hradzka (2010)

Many of the works here tell a layered story: A volute-krater -- a vessel used to mix water and wine -- is illustrated with two ceremonies: a formal one with a woman preparing to make an offering to the gods; the other, a frolic of maenads and satyrs. ❋ Jan (2009)

(The krater belonged to the ancient Etruscans, but they of course ­imported it from Greece.) ❋ Unknown (2009)

"No figure of Christ on the cross I'd ever seen matched this image," wrote the Met's former director Thomas Hoving about his first look at the krater in 1972. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Ms. Boitani also notes that the current display is only temporary, and that later this year the museum will unveil a permanent exhibition dedicated to finds from Cerveteri, placing the krater squarely in its Etruscan context. ❋ Unknown (2009)

But Mario Resca, a former chairman of McDonald's Italia who is leading the government's push to make Italian museums more popular and user-friendly, says that the Euphronios krater will feature prominently in an ­Etruscan tourist itinerary that the Culture Ministry will be promoting next year. ❋ Unknown (2009)

The Italian public's first chance to see the krater was at a high-profile exhibition of ­ "recovered masterpieces" last year at the Quirinal Palace, the presidential residence in Rome. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Euphronios krater, depicting the body of Sarpedon being transported by Sleep and Death, was roiled in controversy for decades. ❋ Unknown (2009)

The great Terror gone, the great thrown shadow dismantled—the launched object in the sky named for a Greek goddess on a bell krater in 500 B.C. All terror is local now. ❋ Don Delillo (2008)

Like many other vessels, the krater was exported to Italy, and it is believed to have been used by the Etruscan civilization to decorate a tomb near Rome. ❋ Unknown (2008)

(Photo is of Medici in front of the Euphronius krater, returned to Italy by the Met; he denies having been involved in its sale, which was part of his conviction.) ❋ Unknown (2008)