Storage Jar (Amphora)
Artist
The Rycroft Painter
(Greek, active about 520–500 BCE)
Dateabout 515–500 BCE
Mediumblack-figure painted pottery
Dimensions62.2 x 39.7 cm (24 1/2 x 15 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineAustin S. Garver Fund and Sarah C. Garver Fund
Terms
Object number1956.83
DescriptionFrom vicinity of Athens; Leto Mounting a Chariot with Apollo, Artemis and Hermes. Dionysos with Maenads and Satyrs. Black figured style.Label TextGreek vase painters often depicted narratives by showing a chosen moment from an episode of great importance to a story or myth. These favorite episodes became formulaic representations of myths, some serving as parables for contemporary events. The figures could be identified by the attributes, symbols, or objects that surrounded them. The work of the so-called Rycroft Painter, first identified in the Rycroft Collection in England, is characterized by extremely fine draftsmanship, especially in the rendering of equine anatomy. Chariot scenes and depictions of the wine god Dionysos were among his favorite subjects. One side of this beautifully preserved black-figured vase shows Hermes, the messenger god, squiring Leto, mother of the twin deities Apollo and Artemis, to the august company of the Olympian gods. Leto appears mounting a chariot with her adult children. On the other side Dionysos wears a crown of vine leaves and raises his drinking cup. He is flanked by dancing maenads who play krotala (similar to castanets) and by lustful satyrs. Since the amphora was frequently used as a container for wine, the imagery of Dionysos is particularly appropriate.Provenance(per memo by richard Stuart Teitz) Mr. Robert Hecht of Rome, then either sold or given on consignment to Dr. Elie Borowski, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada, then sold to Worcester Art Museum, August 2, 1956.
On View
Not on viewCollections
440–430 BCE
