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On a vessel a man holds a large cup and a staff with vines coming from the top.

A vessel with a flat base and narrow body which connects to a tall fluted stem. It is painted in red and black. A man in long draping robes stands slightly turned to the right. He holds a cup with two large handles in his left hand while his right hand holds a tall staff which seems to be made from a long stick, with 3 vines coming from the top of the staff. He wears a crown of similar vines on his head. He stands on a platform indicated by a geometric heart and dot pattern.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1972.44
People
Attributed to The Berlin Painter, Greek (500 BCE - 470 BCE)
Title
Lekythos (oil flask): Dionysos Holding a Kantharos
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
c. 480 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Athens (Attica)
Period
Classical period, Early
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/287350

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Red-figure
Dimensions
Overall: 34 x 11.4 cm (13 3/8 x 4 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Philipp Lederer, Lugano, Switzerland. [Charles Lucien Morley, St. Moritz, Switzerland and New York (by 1942)], sold; to Frederick M. Watkins, New Haven, CT, (1942-1972), bequest; to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1972.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Beazley Archive Database #202016

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Frederick M. Watkins
Accession Year
1972
Object Number
1972.44
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
A bearded Dionysos stands facing right, wearing a long chiton, whose fine creases are done in diluted gloss, and mantle. He holds a staff with an ivy sprig in his left hand and a kantharos (two-handled drinking cup) drawn in silhouette in his right. He wears a wreath and stands barefoot.

Publication History

  • The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1973)
  • Caroline Houser, Dionysos and His Circle: Ancient Through Modern, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1979), no. 9.
  • 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. 12, no. 20.
  • [Reproduction Only], Persephone, (Spring 2005)., p. 5
  • Michael Padgett, ed., The Berlin Painter and His World: Athenian vase-painting int he early fifth century B.C., exh. cat., Yale University Press (U.S.) and Princeton University Art Museum (New Haven, 2017), pp. 306-307, no. 52

Exhibition History

  • The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 01/31/1973 - 03/14/1973
  • Dionysos and His Circle: Ancient through Modern, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 12/10/1979 - 02/10/1980
  • Dialogue with Antiquity: The Curatorial Achievement of George M.A. Hanfmann, Fogg Art Museum, 05/07/1982 - 06/26/1982
  • Fragments of Antiquity: Drawing Upon Greek Vases, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/15/1997 - 12/28/1997
  • The Berlin Painter and his World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, 03/04/2017 - 06/11/2017; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 07/07/2017 - 10/01/2017

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