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White ground oil flask (lekythos) depicting a grave monument for an athlete
Painter: Thanatos Painter
Greek
Classical Period
about 450–440 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, White Ground, polychrome
Dimensions
Height: 31.5 cm (12 3/8 in.)
Diameter: 10 cm (3 15/16 in.)
Diameter: 10 cm (3 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number01.8080
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
DescriptionThe grave monument resting on a two-stepped base represented is an unusual type. It is topped by a pediment terminating in volutes in each lateral corner and a palmette akroterion at the apex. Two akroteria in the form of standing young athletes rest upon the corner volutes. Both lean on spheres and face outward. The figure to the left holds a strigil. The pediment itself is decorated with figures in silhouette – two figures are boxing, while two seated spectators occupy the corners. A discus decorated with a triskeles floats in the left of the field, and a lyre floats in the right.
A bearded man wearing a mantle draped over one shoulder stoops, nearly kneeling upon the bottom step of the grave marker, supported by a walking stick in his right hand. He peers up at the pediment, as if examining the boxing match. To the right, an unbearded youth swaddled from neck to ankle in a blue mantle stands somewhat apart from the monument.
A bearded man wearing a mantle draped over one shoulder stoops, nearly kneeling upon the bottom step of the grave marker, supported by a walking stick in his right hand. He peers up at the pediment, as if examining the boxing match. To the right, an unbearded youth swaddled from neck to ankle in a blue mantle stands somewhat apart from the monument.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought from Athens.); December 1901: purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren