Greek red-figure amphora, Apulia, c.330-320 BC, attributed to the Ganymede Painter (Trendall)
Terracotta
Height: 81.3cm
11673 C EL
Copyright The Artist
Large amphora with elongated neck and handles and a tall foot. The body is painted with the figure of a young, nude warrior seated within an ionic naiskos. His shield...
Large amphora with elongated neck and handles and a tall foot. The body is painted with the figure of a young, nude warrior seated within an ionic naiskos. His shield rests against his throne, two spears cradled in the left arm, his plumed Chalcidian helmet in his right hand, an Oscan helmet hanging from the lintel above. The naiskos is flanked by confronted seated ladies each holding a phiale, whilst a hydria rests on the dotted ground-line below. On the reverse is a stele draped with a sash, flanked on the left by a chiton-clad lady holding a fan and wreath, a sash in the field, and on the right a similarly clad lady holding a casket and garland of flowers, rosettes in her right hand and a shield in her left. Details in both scenes are enlivened with added white, red and golden brown.
The subsidiary decoration is elaborate and expertly executed, with large scrolling palmettes, bands of added white tendrils, and elegant tongues running the length of the neck.
The British Museum website says the following on the Ganymede painter: "Trendall called him the Ganymede Painter naming him after the image of Ganymede and a swan that he painted on the neck of a volute krater. He was a close colleague of the Patera Painter (q.v.) and decorated both large and small vases. On a large scale he produced mostly funerary subjects with ambitious compositions, especially in his treatment of naiskos scenes into which he often introduced a number of objects (as well as the main figure) and even horses. He drew beautiful florals on the necks of volute kraters and made much use of added colour. Very many vases have been attributed to his hand on the basis of style."
The subsidiary decoration is elaborate and expertly executed, with large scrolling palmettes, bands of added white tendrils, and elegant tongues running the length of the neck.
The British Museum website says the following on the Ganymede painter: "Trendall called him the Ganymede Painter naming him after the image of Ganymede and a swan that he painted on the neck of a volute krater. He was a close colleague of the Patera Painter (q.v.) and decorated both large and small vases. On a large scale he produced mostly funerary subjects with ambitious compositions, especially in his treatment of naiskos scenes into which he often introduced a number of objects (as well as the main figure) and even horses. He drew beautiful florals on the necks of volute kraters and made much use of added colour. Very many vases have been attributed to his hand on the basis of style."
Provenance
André Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA; GR 322Royal Athena Galleries, New York, USA
Private collection, Chiswick, London, UK; acquired from the above, 1998
Literature
This is a particularly good example by this prolific painter.Publications
Sotheby's, London, UK, Ancient Glass, Ancient Silver and Jewellery, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities also Art Reference Books, 13th July 1987, no.304; 'Various Properties'André Emmerich Gallery, New York, USA, Classical Antiquities (Cat. 1988-9), no.XIII, colour ill
A.D. Trendall and Alexander Cambitoglou, Second Supplement to the Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, Part II (London, 1992), p.245, no.16al
Sotheby's, New York, USA, Important Classical, Egyptian, and Western Asiatic Antiquities and Islamic Works of Art, 14th December 1994, lot 117; 'Various Properties'
12
of 12