Harvard Art Museums > 1950.64: Monumental Olpe (pitcher) Vessels Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Monumental Olpe (pitcher) (Attributed to The Lion Painter) , 1950.64,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 21, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/219705. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Why Is This Pitcher So Big? This pitcher is obviously far too large to use for pouring drinks. It probably marked the grave of a wealthy citizen of Athens, Greece, who lived some 2,700 years ago. The dense geometric patterns encasing long-limbed and slender-necked animals suggest an exciting visual world. Much costly work and skill went into making this giant vessel! It announced the family’s wealth and presence to anyone who saw the funeral or the grave. Whose grave did it mark? We don’t know. But we do know the names of many other ancient people whose graves contained the objects now in our galleries. Look to the left, for instance, to meet a young girl named Melisto (accession number: 1961.86), who lived about 400 years later in the same region of Greece. Caring for the Dead at the Harvard Art Museums Identification and Creation Object Number 1950.64 People Attributed to The Lion Painter, Greek (735 BCE - 700 BCE) Title Monumental Olpe (pitcher) Other Titles Alternate Title: Attic Funerary Monument in the Form of a Pitcher - Olpe Classification Vessels Work Type vessel Date c. 730-700 BCE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Attica Period Geometric period, Late Culture Greek Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/219705 Location Location Level 3, Room 3410, South Arcade View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Terracotta Technique Wheel-made Dimensions 66 cm h x 35.2 cm diam (26 x 13 7/8 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Ephron Gallery, 67 East 57th Street, New York City, 1950], sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1950. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Francis H. Burr Memorial Fund Accession Year 1950 Object Number 1950.64 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History David Gordon Mitten and Amy Brauer, Dialogue with Antiquity, The Curatorial Achievement of George M. A. Hanfmann, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1982), p. 10, no. 4, ill. p. 5. Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), p. 100, no. 110, ill. Susan Langdon, ed., From Pasture to Polis: Art in the Age of Homer, exh. cat., University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO, 1993), p. 202-205, no. 79, pl. 16 Exhibition History Dialogue with Antiquity: The Curatorial Achievement of George M.A. Hanfmann, Fogg Art Museum, 05/07/1982 - 06/26/1982 From Pasture to Polis: Art in the Age of Homer, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri, Columbia, 10/09/1993 - 12/05/1993 32Q: 3410 South Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, 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
