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View: Side B
DEACESSIONED September 21, 2006
Two-handled vessel (nestoris) depicting athletes in conversation with girls
Greek, South Italian
Classical Period
late fifth century B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Italy, Lucania
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
Height: 49.6 cm (19 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Widgie and Peter Aldrich
Accession Number1998.588
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionBoth sides of this vase depict fraternization between male athletes and admiring females. The nude winged figure in the center of one side is Eros, the god of love, whose presence confirms the romantic nature of these interactions.
Side B: (from left to right) nude youth facing right holding a strigil and a walking stick talking to girl facing left; nude youth with walking stick facing right toward female and nude youth with a walking stick and holding a diadem, both facing left.
Side A: (from left to right, woman facing right toward nude youth with stick, seated on rock and facing left; in center, woman facing right toward Eros facing left; on right, nude youth, holding stick, facing left.
Side B: (from left to right) nude youth facing right holding a strigil and a walking stick talking to girl facing left; nude youth with walking stick facing right toward female and nude youth with a walking stick and holding a diadem, both facing left.
Side A: (from left to right, woman facing right toward nude youth with stick, seated on rock and facing left; in center, woman facing right toward Eros facing left; on right, nude youth, holding stick, facing left.
ProvenanceDecember 13-14, 1982, anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, lot 298. December 10, 1996, anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, lot 191 [see note 1], to Peter and Widgie Aldrich; 1998, partial year-end gift of the Aldriches to the MFA [see note 2]; 2006, remaining interest given by the Aldriches to the MFA; September 21, 2006, deaccessioned by the MFA for transfer to the Republic of Italy.
NOTES: [1] Noted in the catalogue to have been on loan to the Borchardt Library, La Trobe University, Melbourne, between 1988 and 1994. [2] MFA accession date: January 27, 1999.
For further information, please see: http://www.mfa.org/collections/provenance/antiquities-and-cultural-property/italian-ministry-of-culture-agreement
NOTES: [1] Noted in the catalogue to have been on loan to the Borchardt Library, La Trobe University, Melbourne, between 1988 and 1994. [2] MFA accession date: January 27, 1999.
For further information, please see: http://www.mfa.org/collections/provenance/antiquities-and-cultural-property/italian-ministry-of-culture-agreement