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View: Side B
Two-handled jar (amphora) depicting Athena and Apollo
Greek
Early Classical Period
about 450 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure technique
Dimensions
Height: 51.4 cm (20 1/4 in.); diameter: 32.5 cm (12 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Catharine Page Perkins Fund
Accession Number96.719
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionPanathenaic; Side A: Athena and a lyre (Apollo) player. On top step of platform on which the musician stands is inscribed (add Greek)
Side B: Hermes and Poseidon, vis-á-vis.
Side B: Hermes and Poseidon, vis-á-vis.
ProvenanceProbably Vincenzo Torrusio (b. 1758 – d. 1823), Bishop of Nola, Italy [see note 1]; by 1842, his nephew Andrea Torrusio, Naples; by 1856, to Domenico Torrusio, Naples [see note 2]; between 1869 and 1875, sold from the Torrusio Collection [see note 3]. By 1896, Edward Perry Warren (b. 1860 – d. 1928), London and Rome; 1896, sold by Warren to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 6, 1896)
Notes
[1] The amphora is first mentioned in print as part of the Torrusio Collection in 1842 by de Witte (in Bulletin de l’Academie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles [1842], p. 112). De Witte states that the collection was for sale and describes the amphora as “la magnifique amphore panathénaïque qui, d’un côté, montre Minerve et Apollon, et, de l’autre, Neptune et Mercure.” It is also described in the notes of the Duke de Luynes (1802-1867), perhaps dated to 1841 (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Archives et manuscripts, Fonds Luynes, cote 47-APM-6). [Many thanks to Louise Detrez for alerting us to the Torrusio provenance.]
It is likely that the amphora was in the Torrusio collection well before its first clear mention in 1842, since most of the collection seems to have been assembled by the time it was with Vincenzo Torrusio and certainly by the time it was put for sale in its entirety as early as the 1820s (A. Milanese, In partenza dal regno [2014], pp. 155-156, n. 127). It is unclear when the collection was formed exactly but it may have been inherited by Vincenzo Torrusio from the previous bishop of Nola. Mario Cesarano (“Nola e gli scavi (e I non scavi), I musei e il commercio di antichità in eta borbonica. I protagonisti, I luoghi, e le ragioni alla luce di nuovi dati d’archivio e di recenti indagini sul campo.” In Archeologie borboniche: La ricerca sull’antico a Capri e nelle province di Napoli e Terra di Lavoro [Rome, 2020], p. 458) suggests that the collection was initially formed by the Bishop Trojano Caracciolo del Sole (bishop of Nola 1738-1764) in collaboration with Gianstefano Remondini (b. 1700 – d. 1777) and held at the Seminario Vescovile di Nola until Vincenzo Torrusio became bishop. Salvatore Napolitano (L'antiquaria settecentesca tra Napoli e Firenze: Felice Maria Mastrilli e Gianstefano Remondini [Florence, 2005] p. 165) records a report on the collection formed at the Seminario to the King, which indicates that many of the antiquities in the seminary came from excavations carried out at Le Torricelle and at la Masseria del Marchese della Terza, both in the vicinity of Nola.
[2] Andrea Milanese (In partenza dal regno [2014], pp. 155-156, n. 127) mentions that by 1856, the Torrusio collection was in the hands of Domenico Torrusio, presumably through inheritance (relationship unknown).
[3] The amphora appears for sale again as part of the Torrusio Collection in 1869 as described by H. Heydemann (in Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrisponenza Archeologica [1869], pp. 191-192). In 1875, what remained of the Torrusio Collection was sold to the Antikensammlung in Berlin (A. Furtwangler, Beschreibung der Vasensammlung in Antiquarium [Berlin, 1885], p. XXIV). Since the amphora did not end up in Berlin, it must have been sold to someone else between 1869 and 1875.
Notes
[1] The amphora is first mentioned in print as part of the Torrusio Collection in 1842 by de Witte (in Bulletin de l’Academie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles [1842], p. 112). De Witte states that the collection was for sale and describes the amphora as “la magnifique amphore panathénaïque qui, d’un côté, montre Minerve et Apollon, et, de l’autre, Neptune et Mercure.” It is also described in the notes of the Duke de Luynes (1802-1867), perhaps dated to 1841 (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Archives et manuscripts, Fonds Luynes, cote 47-APM-6). [Many thanks to Louise Detrez for alerting us to the Torrusio provenance.]
It is likely that the amphora was in the Torrusio collection well before its first clear mention in 1842, since most of the collection seems to have been assembled by the time it was with Vincenzo Torrusio and certainly by the time it was put for sale in its entirety as early as the 1820s (A. Milanese, In partenza dal regno [2014], pp. 155-156, n. 127). It is unclear when the collection was formed exactly but it may have been inherited by Vincenzo Torrusio from the previous bishop of Nola. Mario Cesarano (“Nola e gli scavi (e I non scavi), I musei e il commercio di antichità in eta borbonica. I protagonisti, I luoghi, e le ragioni alla luce di nuovi dati d’archivio e di recenti indagini sul campo.” In Archeologie borboniche: La ricerca sull’antico a Capri e nelle province di Napoli e Terra di Lavoro [Rome, 2020], p. 458) suggests that the collection was initially formed by the Bishop Trojano Caracciolo del Sole (bishop of Nola 1738-1764) in collaboration with Gianstefano Remondini (b. 1700 – d. 1777) and held at the Seminario Vescovile di Nola until Vincenzo Torrusio became bishop. Salvatore Napolitano (L'antiquaria settecentesca tra Napoli e Firenze: Felice Maria Mastrilli e Gianstefano Remondini [Florence, 2005] p. 165) records a report on the collection formed at the Seminario to the King, which indicates that many of the antiquities in the seminary came from excavations carried out at Le Torricelle and at la Masseria del Marchese della Terza, both in the vicinity of Nola.
[2] Andrea Milanese (In partenza dal regno [2014], pp. 155-156, n. 127) mentions that by 1856, the Torrusio collection was in the hands of Domenico Torrusio, presumably through inheritance (relationship unknown).
[3] The amphora appears for sale again as part of the Torrusio Collection in 1869 as described by H. Heydemann (in Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrisponenza Archeologica [1869], pp. 191-192). In 1875, what remained of the Torrusio Collection was sold to the Antikensammlung in Berlin (A. Furtwangler, Beschreibung der Vasensammlung in Antiquarium [Berlin, 1885], p. XXIV). Since the amphora did not end up in Berlin, it must have been sold to someone else between 1869 and 1875.