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Fragment of a mixing bowl (krater)
Painter: the Adolphseck Painter
Greek, South Italian
Late Classical Period
about 380–370 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Italy, Apulia
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
Height x width: 18 x 15 cm (7 1/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Miss Grace Nelson
Accession Number61.112
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Vase-Painting in Italy (MFA), no. 014.
DescriptionITALIAN VASE PAINTING in ITALY, #14 (61.112)
Fragment of a Bell-Krater
Attributed to the Adolphseck Painter
about 380-370 B.C.
The concert of Apollo. Zeus is reclining to the left on a groundline of cream-colored dots, his left arm and side preserved. His himation is wrapped around his waist, and he holds his yellow eagle-topped scepter in the crook of his left arm. Nike or Eros is at the upper right (only wing tip preserved), carrying an embroidered, tasseled fillet. Apollo stands below them at the center, wearing a bordered cape, a broad belt (yellow with black dots), and a richly decorated musician's chiton with long sleeves, embroidered with palmettes, key-pattern, laurel wreaths, and egg-and-dart. Such a rich costume is not inappropriate for a god, but it may also reflect the influence of theatrical costume or the festal gowns worn by mortal citharodes. The god's face is in three-quarter view, and the artist has taken pains with the relief lines of his curly hair and the faint suggestions of budding sideburns. He holds his broad, white kithara erect by the strap above his left wrist, stopping the strings with the finger of his left hand as he strikes them with the plektron in his right hand. The strings are brown where they cross the body of the kithara.
The Adolphseck Painter is named for a vase in Schloss Fasanerie, Adolphseck (inv. 179: RVAp, I, p. 72, no. 4/51). He was a close associate of the Schiller and Prisoner Painters and like them was a follower of the Tarporley Painter and worked in the Plain style. He painted mainly bell-kraters, most of which have Dionysiac scenes.
Fragment of a Bell-Krater
Attributed to the Adolphseck Painter
about 380-370 B.C.
The concert of Apollo. Zeus is reclining to the left on a groundline of cream-colored dots, his left arm and side preserved. His himation is wrapped around his waist, and he holds his yellow eagle-topped scepter in the crook of his left arm. Nike or Eros is at the upper right (only wing tip preserved), carrying an embroidered, tasseled fillet. Apollo stands below them at the center, wearing a bordered cape, a broad belt (yellow with black dots), and a richly decorated musician's chiton with long sleeves, embroidered with palmettes, key-pattern, laurel wreaths, and egg-and-dart. Such a rich costume is not inappropriate for a god, but it may also reflect the influence of theatrical costume or the festal gowns worn by mortal citharodes. The god's face is in three-quarter view, and the artist has taken pains with the relief lines of his curly hair and the faint suggestions of budding sideburns. He holds his broad, white kithara erect by the strap above his left wrist, stopping the strings with the finger of his left hand as he strikes them with the plektron in his right hand. The strings are brown where they cross the body of the kithara.
The Adolphseck Painter is named for a vase in Schloss Fasanerie, Adolphseck (inv. 179: RVAp, I, p. 72, no. 4/51). He was a close associate of the Schiller and Prisoner Painters and like them was a follower of the Tarporley Painter and worked in the Plain style. He painted mainly bell-kraters, most of which have Dionysiac scenes.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: Christoph Clairmont Collection; January 11, 1961: purchased by MFA from Dr. Christoph Clairmont for $ 950.00 (the total price for 61.110-61.113) with funds from the bequest of Miss Grace Nelson (recorded as Bequest of Miss Grace Nelson)