- Museum number
- 1843,1103.41
- Description
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Pottery: red-figured amphora type A.
(a) Contest for the tripod. Heracles, bearded, with fillet, moves to left, holding the tripod by one leg in his left and brandishing his club over his head; he turns, with his body en face, to strike Apollo, who follows, grasping the same leg of the tripod higher up with his left hand. With his right Apollo seems about to draw an arrow from the quiver hanging at his left side: he is beardless and wears his long hair looped up with a fillet. Between his legs is inscribed his name, AΠOΛON, Άπόλ(λ)ων. Behind him comes Artemis, in long chiton, mantle and twisted saccos ornamented with crosses, and a stephane; she extends her right arm towards the combatants, and with her left draws an arrow from the quiver on her left shoulder. Beside her, her name, APTEMIΣ, "Αρτεμις. Behind Heracles Athene stands looking on, holding in her left her helmet, in her right, horizontally, a spear: she wears a long chiton, a mantle, and large scaly aegis, with lower fringe of snakes drawn in silhouette, and her hair is arranged like that of Apollo: beside her, ΑΘΕΝΑIΑ, Άθηνάία. Between the legs of Heracles is an inscription. The quiver of Artemis is decorated with a dotted lozenge-shaped pattern: that of Apollo, with a scale pattern; each contains five arrows.
(b) Departure of a warrior. This scene is very similar to Ε254a. A warrior to left grasps the nasal of his helmet and seems to be drawing it forward over the face: he has a sword at his side, and his shield has for device a large crab (silhouette). At his feet crouches a small dog with its tail between its legs, which turns its head to look up at a Scythian to right who looks down at him: his dress has for pattern a series of marks like buttonholes. Behind the central warrior, is an old man, wreathed, his mantle over the back of his head, but his chest bare: he wears shoes, and holds in his right a staff. In the field imitation inscriptions, clearly written.
Purple inscriptions, fillets, belt, bowstring, wreath. Brown inner markings, hair on cheek, upper folds of chiton, folds of himation. Outline of hair incised: edging of black dots. Eye in archaic type: the pupil in a is a complete circle dotted, as in large black-figure style; the eye of Heracles has a fringe of brown eyelashes. Each design is enclosed in a border: below, palmettes laid horizontally to left: at sides, net pattern: above, back-to-back palmettes in chain; all the patterns are black on red.
- Production date
- 510BC-500BC
- Dimensions
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Height: 81.28 centimetres
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Height: 630 millimetres
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Weight: 10.20 kilograms
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Width: 410 millimetres
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Depth: 410 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- BM Cat. Vases
Archaeologia, 23, p. 209; Gerhard, Rapp. Volc. p. 182, no. 735; p. 186, no. 755; A. V. ii, p. 147, note 17, C; Ann. dell' Inst. 1830, p. 208; Klein, ibid. 1881, p. 81; Overbeck, Kunstmyth. (Apollo), p. 402, no. 13; Corey, Amaz. Ant. Fig. p. 91; Hartwig, Meistersch. pp. 168 and 191; C.I.Gr. 7620; cf. Muller in Comment. Soc. Gotting, vii, p. 101; Wernicke, Lieblingsn. p. 4, note 1.
The drawing in a resembles that of BM Vase Ε253a and Ε256b; that of b resembles BM Vase Ε254.
For the warrior's helmet on b, cf. the Andokides amphora, Klein, Meistersig.2 p. 182, no. 2, A; and the Phintias kylix, Hartwig, Meistersch. pl. xvii, 3.
- Location
- On display (G20a/dc6)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2008 1 May-12 Jul, Shanghai, The Ancient Olympic Games
2008 2 Aug-31 Sep, Hong Kong, The Ancient Olympic Games
2009 2 Apr-13 Oct, Alicante, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2010 30 Apr-30 Aug, Seoul, National Museum of Korea, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2010-2011 15 Oct-07 Feb, Taipei, The National Palace Museum, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2010-2011 11 Mar-12 Jun, Kobe City Museum, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2011 4 Jul-25 Sep, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2011-2012 25 Oct-12 Feb, Mexico City, National Anthropological Museum, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2012-2013 6 Oct-6 Jan, Portland Art Museum, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2013 6 May-6 Oct, Dallas Museum of Art, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2014 21Feb-9 Jun, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greek Art and Thought
2014 2 Aug-9 Nov, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia, The Body Beautiful in Greek Art and Thought
2015 26 Mar-5 Jul, The British Museum, Defining Beauty: the body in ancient Greek art
- Acquisition date
- 1843
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1843,1103.41
