A vessel with a winged person.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A tall narrow vessel with a thick base and a narrow body which is widest at the top and narrows into a fluted stem. In white on black, a figure seems to hover slightly off the ground, legs bent and balancing on the toes of one foot. They have feathered wings coming from each shoulder. They wear draped robes and a round headband. Their arms are spread wide and in their left hand they hold a vase, and in their right hand they hold a bowl. There is a low column to the right of the figure.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
4.1908
People
Attributed to The Berlin Painter, Greek (500 BCE - 470 BCE)
Title
Lekythos (oil flask): Nike (Victory) Pouring a Libation at an Altar
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
c. 490 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Attica
Period
Classical period, Early
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/292468

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3400, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Greece in Black and Orange
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Red-figure
Dimensions
24.3 × 8 cm (9 9/16 × 3 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Misses Mary D. Upham and Rosamond Upham, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (by 1908), by descent; to Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. and Rosamund Upham Hunter, New York and Connecticut.

This object has been on loan to the Fogg Museum since 1908.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Beazley Archive Database #202008

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Loan from Estate of Donald Upham and Mrs. Rosamond U. Hunter
Object Number
4.1908
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • George H. Chase and Mary Zelia Pease, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, U.S.A.: volume 8, Fogg Museum and Gallatin Collections, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1942), p. 34, pl. (355) 17.4
  • George M. A. Hanfmann, Greek Art and Life, An Exhibition Catalogue, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1950), no. 126.
  • J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England, 1963), 211.189
  • Donna Carol Kurtz, The Berlin Painter, Oxford University Press (UK) (Oxford, 1983), p. 107, no. 69, plate LIX b
  • Thomas Carpenter, Thomas Mannack, and Melanie Mendonca, ed., Beazley addenda : additional references to ABV, ARV² & Paralipomena, Oxford University Press (UK) (Oxford, 1989), 196
  • John J. Herrmann Jr. and Christine Kondoleon, Games for the Gods: The Greek Athlete and the Olympic Spirit, MFA Publications (Boston, MA, 2004), no. 137, pp. 156, 188
  • Gunnel Ekroth, Why (Not) Paint an Altar? A Study of Where, When and Why Altars Appear on Attic Red-figure Vases, The World of Greek Vases. Colloquium at the Danish Academy, Rome, 13-15 Jan 2005, ed. Vinnie Norskov, Edizioni Quasar (Rome, 2009), p. 95, fig. 4
  • 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), p. 268, no. 30

Exhibition History

  • Greek Art and Life: From the Collections of the Fogg Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Private Lenders, Fogg Art Museum, 03/07/1950 - 04/15/1950
  • Fragments of Antiquity: Drawing Upon Greek Vases, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/15/1997 - 12/28/1997
  • The Greek Athlete and the Games, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 07/20/2004 - 11/28/2004
  • 32Q: 3400 Greek, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/24/2017; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/03/2023 - 01/01/2050
  • 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

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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