Vase with the depiction of the battle of Lapiths and Centaurs

The depiction of the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs running along the body of the vase was made using a dipped acid technique referred to as oroplastic decoration. According to the story, Pirithous, the King of the Lapiths married Hippodamia and invited his half brothers to the wedding, the Centaurs of Thessaly. At the wedding, the centaurs, elated from wine, began to attack the women, after which a battle broke out between the Lapiths and Centaurs, which led to many deaths on both sides, and ended with the expulsion of the Centuars from the region. (See: Ovid: Metamorphoses, XII. 235.)