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Water jar (hydria) depicting Io and Argos
Greek
Early Classical Period
about 460 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Ceramic, Red Figure
Dimensions
Height: 37 cm (14 9/16 in.); diameter: 28 cm (11 in.)
Credit Line
Otis Norcross Fund
Accession Number08.417
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsVessels
Catalogue Raisonné
Caskey-Beazley, Attic Vase Paintings (MFA), no. 150.
DescriptionOn shoulder, between lotus bud chains at top and bottom, the heifer Io bounces to left over a meadow or pasture. In the foreground, her multi-eyed guardian, Argos, flees to the same direction while turning his head back and raising a club to defend himself against the god Hermes, who is drawing his sword. At left, a standing woman, holding a scepter and temple key—probably a priestess of Hera—and, behind her, a bearded man leaning on a walking stick and raising a hand. At right, a woman gesturing in surprise. The latter might represent Io’s parents, Inachos and Melia. The altar and Doric column nearby situates the scene in the sanctuary of Hera at Argos. Details added in brown and red.
ProvenanceBy 1893, said to have been found in the area of Curti and Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Campania and became part of the collection of Salvatore Pascale, Curti [see note 1]. 1898, acquired by Joseph Clark Hoppin (b. 1870 - d. 1925), Providence, RI [see note 2]; 1908, sold by Joseph Clark Hoppin to the MFA for $1000. (Accession Date: October 8, 1908)
NOTES:
[1] E. Petersen, "Collezione di S. Pascale alle Curti presso S. Maria di Capua," Bullettino dell'Imperiale Istituto Archeologico Germanico 8 (1893): pp. 336-338, cat. no. 17. The majority of the collection is said to have been found in this area, presumably by Pascale himself, who conducted excavations in the second half of the nineteenth century. [2] Joseph Clark Hoppin, "Argos, Io, and the Prometheus of Aeschylus," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 12 (1901): p. 335.
NOTES:
[1] E. Petersen, "Collezione di S. Pascale alle Curti presso S. Maria di Capua," Bullettino dell'Imperiale Istituto Archeologico Germanico 8 (1893): pp. 336-338, cat. no. 17. The majority of the collection is said to have been found in this area, presumably by Pascale himself, who conducted excavations in the second half of the nineteenth century. [2] Joseph Clark Hoppin, "Argos, Io, and the Prometheus of Aeschylus," Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 12 (1901): p. 335.