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Mixing bowl (calyx krater) with Zeus pursuing Thetis
Greek
Early Classical Period
about 470–460 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
Height: 44 cm (17 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Catharine Page Perkins Fund
Accession Number95.23
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Caskey-Beazley, Attic Vase Paintings (MFA), no. 104.
DescriptionSide A: In center Zeus pursuing the nymph Aigina, (Most of his face and arms are lost). Aigina flees to right looking back. A sister flees to left. Meaningless inscriptions between the upper parts of the figures.
Side B: An old man (Asopos ? Nereus?) standing, at right of picture, with scepter, is approached by a maiden with hands extended; between them an altar. Greek inscription "Nereus is handsome" (NEREUS KALOS). 'Kalos' between the woman and the tree and 'Nereus' between the tree and the man. Repaired with some restorations.
[Label text];
On the front of this vase, Zeus can be seen pursuing one of the many objects of his affection, the Nereid Thetis. Zeus holds a scepter, identifying him as the ruler of the gods, and wears a tunic with an intricate design. On the reverse of the vase, another sea-nymph rushes toward her elderly father, the sea-god Nereus, who stands by an altar. Nereus had fifty Nereid daughters, who are often identified by their elaborate headbands and who often carry fish as an attribute of their marine origin.
Side B: An old man (Asopos ? Nereus?) standing, at right of picture, with scepter, is approached by a maiden with hands extended; between them an altar. Greek inscription "Nereus is handsome" (NEREUS KALOS). 'Kalos' between the woman and the tree and 'Nereus' between the tree and the man. Repaired with some restorations.
[Label text];
On the front of this vase, Zeus can be seen pursuing one of the many objects of his affection, the Nereid Thetis. Zeus holds a scepter, identifying him as the ruler of the gods, and wears a tunic with an intricate design. On the reverse of the vase, another sea-nymph rushes toward her elderly father, the sea-god Nereus, who stands by an altar. Nereus had fifty Nereid daughters, who are often identified by their elaborate headbands and who often carry fish as an attribute of their marine origin.
InscriptionsSide A: meaningless inscriptions
Side B:
ΚΑΛΟΣ between the woman and the tree
ΝΕΡΕΥΣ (last letter in retrograde) between the tree and the man
Side B:
ΚΑΛΟΣ between the woman and the tree
ΝΕΡΕΥΣ (last letter in retrograde) between the tree and the man
ProvenanceBy 1893: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: purchased March 1893, from Orvieto; according to the entry in Caskey and Beazley, Attic Vase Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 2: from the excavations of Riccardo Mancini); 1895: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren for $ 29,857.37 (this figure is the total price for MFA 95.9-95.174)