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View: Side A
DEACESSIONED September 21, 2006
Two-handled jar (pelike) depicting Phineus with the sons of Boreas
Greek
Classical Period
about 450 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
Height: 21.3 cm (8 3/8 in.); diameter: 16.3 cm (6 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund
Accession Number1979.40
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionSide A: Two winged sons of Boreas (Zetes and Calais) flank the blind and aged king Phineus who entreats them to free him from the harpies. The Boreads are dressed as Thracian warriors.
Side B: Old, baldheaded man with stick.
[Label text]:
Zetes and Calais, the sons of the North Wind Boreas were among the Argonauts who sailed with Jason to find the Golden Fleece. They stopped in Thrace where they drove away the harpies who had been defiling the food of the blind, old King Phineus. In the scene depicted here, the king uses his gift of prophecy to foretell the successful outcome of the voyage of the Argonauts. The two winged heroes are shown in Thracian costume because the North Wind blew from this northern region. The blindness of the old king is thoughtfully recorded by rendering the eyes as closed.
Side B: Old, baldheaded man with stick.
[Label text]:
Zetes and Calais, the sons of the North Wind Boreas were among the Argonauts who sailed with Jason to find the Golden Fleece. They stopped in Thrace where they drove away the harpies who had been defiling the food of the blind, old King Phineus. In the scene depicted here, the king uses his gift of prophecy to foretell the successful outcome of the voyage of the Argonauts. The two winged heroes are shown in Thracian costume because the North Wind blew from this northern region. The blindness of the old king is thoughtfully recorded by rendering the eyes as closed.
Provenance1979, sold by Palladion Antike Kunst, Basel, to the MFA [see note]; September 21, 2006, deaccessioned by the MFA for transfer to the Republic of Italy.
NOTE: MFA accession date: February 14, 1976. According to a letter from Ursula Becchina of Palladion, the vase had been "in the Swiss private collection of Mr. Karl Haug, Basel, since 1936, and was then bought through our gallery in 1971".
For further information, please see: http://www.mfa.org/collections/provenance/antiquities-and-cultural-property/italian-ministry-of-culture-agreement
NOTE: MFA accession date: February 14, 1976. According to a letter from Ursula Becchina of Palladion, the vase had been "in the Swiss private collection of Mr. Karl Haug, Basel, since 1936, and was then bought through our gallery in 1971".
For further information, please see: http://www.mfa.org/collections/provenance/antiquities-and-cultural-property/italian-ministry-of-culture-agreement