1960.312: Neck Amphora (storage jar): Herakles and the Nemean Lion; Theseus and the Minotaur
VesselsThe shallow rim and symmetrical handles are black and there are geometric floral and swirling designs on the neck and body of the vessel. There is a central figure who is nude and wrestling a lion, two figures stand to either, one is nude and reaches towards the lion while the other wears a tall helmet, clothing with geometric designs on it, and a shield. There are curling floral designs around the figures and black shapes above them, though it is unclear if they are flora or fauna.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1960.312
- People
-
Near Exekias
- Title
- Neck Amphora (storage jar): Herakles and the Nemean Lion; Theseus and the Minotaur
- Classification
- Vessels
- Work Type
- vessel
- Date
- 540-530 BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Attica
- Period
- Archaic period
- Culture
- Greek
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/289262
Location
- Location
-
Level 3, Room 3400, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Greece in Black and Orange
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Terracotta
- Technique
- Black-figure
- Dimensions
- 41.3 cm h x 31.5 cm diam (16 1/4 x 12 3/8 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- David M. Robinson, Baltimore, MD, (by 1958), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1960.
State, Edition, Standard Reference Number
- Standard Reference Number
- Beazley Archive Database #310424
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson
- Accession Year
- 1960
- Object Number
- 1960.312
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
Group E amphora.
On side A, Herakles wrestles with the Nemean lion between Iolaus and Athena. Herakles stands in the center facing right and strangles the lion, clinching his neck. On the left is Iolaus (Herakles' companion) who moves to the left and looks back over his shoulder. On the right stands Athena, wearing her customary peplos and helmet, and bearing a shield.
On side B, Theseus battles the Minotaur between two maidens. Theseus, the Athenian hero, stands in the center facing right wearing a short garment and ani mal skin. With his left hand he grasps the Minotaur (half man, half bull), stabbing the monster with a short sword. The hero is flanked on either side by two maidens, both wearing floor-length, decorated peploi.
On the shoulder, a cockfight. The neck is decorated with a palmette-lotus chain and tendrils, palmettes, and lotuses appear beneath the handles. Added red and white provide detail including the mens' hair and the womens' skin, respectively.
Both of these scenes were popular during the mid-late sixth century BCE
Publication History
- J. D. Beazley, Attic Black-figure Vases, The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England, 1956), p. 148
- David M. Robinson, Unpublished Greek Vases in the Robinson Collection, American Journal of Archaeology (1956), 60.1, 1-25, p. 7-9, no. 8, pl. 5
- Fogg Art Museum, The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities, A Special Exhibition, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1961), p. 14, no. 66
- Diana M. Buitron, Attic Vase Painting in New England Collections, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1972), p.30, no.11
- Thomas Carpenter, Thomas Mannack, and Melanie Mendonca, ed., Beazley addenda : additional references to ABV, ARV² & Paralipomena, Oxford University Press (UK) (Oxford, 1989), p. 62
- Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), Artemis (Zürich, Switzerland, 1999), Vol. 5, Herakles 1807.
Exhibition History
- The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities: A Special Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, 05/01/1961 - 09/20/1961
- Attic Vase Painting in New England Collections, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 03/01/1972 - 04/05/1972
- Re-View: S422 Ancient & Byzantine Art & Numismatics, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/12/2008 - 06/18/2011
- 32Q: 3400 Greek, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050
Subjects and Contexts
- Google Art Project
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu