1959.218: Hydria (water jar): Priam Driving Forth

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1959.218

People

Related to The Bucci Painter, Greek

Title

Hydria (water jar): Priam Driving Forth

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

c. 525-500 BCE

Places

Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Attica

Period

Archaic period

Culture

Greek

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/288389

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Terracotta

Technique

Black-figure

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Spencer Churchill Collection.
Robinson Collection.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number

Beazley Archive Database #301641

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of David M. Robinson

Accession Year

1959

Object Number

1959.218

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.

Descriptions

Description

The main scene on this hydria illustrates King Priam charging forth in a chariot to ransom for the body of Hector. King Priam is seated in the chariot and on his right is his charioteer. The chariot is being pulled by three horses but the third horse is barely visible, the only indications of its existence are its legs and incised lines by the face of the rightmost horse that depict a partial profile of its face. Directly in front of Priam is a warrior with a shield with a decoration in very faded added white and incised lines that appears to be a bird of prey, possibly a falcon. Behind the warrior are more men who are likely the king’s attendants. Behind the chariot is another attendant. All of the men in the scene are facing King Priam, likely to emphasize his power and status. On the shoulder of the hydria we see another scene where a man is fighting the Nemean Lion with a weapon painted in faded added red. This man is depicted directly above King Priam so this scene could function as a parallel to the main scene.

Publication History

• 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. 68
• Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), Artemis (Zürich, Switzerland, 1999), Vol. 7, Priamos 67.

Exhibition History

• The David Moore Robinson Bequest of Classical Art and Antiquities: A Special Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, 05/01/1961 - 09/20/1961
• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/02/2022

Verification Level