Works of Art
Attic Red Figure Krater attributed to the Painter of Cadmos
Period: Late 5th Century B.C.
Culture: Classical, Greek World
Category: Array
Dimensions: Height: 35.3 cm
Price: CHF 52000, USD 52000
Provenance: Ex- Feuardent collection, France, collected in the late 19th Century (an old sticker with n. 3061 is stuck on the base).
Condition: Intact, except for some chips on the lip and on the foot
Description
The vase is intact, except for some chips on the lip and on the foot; the drawing of the figures is partially lost.
The bell krater is one of the most significant shapes from the late 5th and 4th century B.C. Greek canon; the body of the container, in the shape of an upside down bell, has a large high, circular foot.
The decoration is composed of two different scenes, painted on both sides of the crater: the main scene depicts a komos with five figures (a young man with a torch, a double flute player and three dancers); the young man in the center seems to approach the musician. The Greek word komos describes the procession that precedes and/or follows the banquet, whether unbridled in nature with music and games, or serious and mystical. On the other side, the image is more stereotyped: three standing figures converse peacefully (two men surrounding a woman). Meanders and olive-branch friezes frame the scenes. It is necessary to bring attention to the high artistic quality of the main scene (the very elaborate posture of the frontally positioned dancers, the precise and refined drawing), which contrasts with the conventional subject and the more summary style of the three painted figures on the other side of the vase. It is possible that two artists decorated this work: a confirmed painter for the komos scene, and an apprentice for the subsidiary scene.
This vase was recently attributed by R. Guy to the painter of Cadmos, a well-known Athenian artist of the late 5th century.
Bibliography
On the painter of Cadmos:
BEAZLEY J.D., Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters (ARV2), vol. II, Oxford, 1968, p. 1184-1186; pp. 1685-1686.
BOARDMAN J., Athenian Red Figure Vases, The Classical Period, A Handbook, London, 1989, p. 167, fig. 310-312.
On the komos:
GHIRON-BISTAGNE P., Recherches sur les acteurs dans la Grèce antique, Paris, 1976, pp. 207-297.