Athenian Vase Painting| Psykter, ca. 520–510 B.C.; red-figure

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Psykter,    H. 13 5/8 in. (34.59 cm)     Rogers Fund, 1910 (10.210.18)ca. 520–510 b.c.; 
                                   red-figure ||  Attributed to Oltos, Greek, Attic, Terracotta,  

The continuous scene on this red-figure psykter, a vase for cooling wine, depicts young athletes and their trainers practicing in a gymnasium. The athletes are nude, as was customary, and the trainers wear mantles. The name of each figure is inscribed, occasionally with additional comments. A flute player, Smikythos, is making music to accompany the exercises. He wears a long chiton and the customary mouth band; a flute case made of spotted skin hangs by his side. In front of him, a broad jumper, Dorotheos, is swinging his weights; we are informed by the inscription that "he is going to jump." Kleainethos, the manager of the games, crowns a boy, "fair Epainetos," who is laden with branches. The boy's trainer, Alketes, stands behind him with two measuring sticks; he raises his hand in approval. There is a diskos thrower, Antiphanes, who readies himself for a backward swing. He is confronted by his trainer, Antimenes, holding a stick. Another youth, Batrachos, prepares to throw the javelin.

Drawn with strong, incisive lines, each figure stands out as a separate design, skillfully adjusted to the curving form of the vessel. The painting is attributed to Oltos, an artist whose signature appears on two kylikes, one in Berlin and another in Tarquinia. He is a master of the relief line, and his large, simple style has a monumental quality. Typical of the artist's work is the type of bearded trainer, shown here, wearing a mantle with radiating folds and zigzag edges. Likewise characteristic are the drapery folds stacked in one direction, and the hair regularly incised with a wavy line.

Source:  Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Athenian Vase Painting| Psykter, ca. 520–510 B.C.; red-figure

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Psykter,    H. 13 5/8 in. (34.59 cm)     Rogers Fund, 1910 (10.210.18)ca. 520–510 b.c.; 
                                   red-figure ||  Attributed to Oltos, Greek, Attic, Terracotta,  

The continuous scene on this red-figure psykter, a vase for cooling wine, depicts young athletes and their trainers practicing in a gymnasium. The athletes are nude, as was customary, and the trainers wear mantles. The name of each figure is inscribed, occasionally with additional comments. A flute player, Smikythos, is making music to accompany the exercises. He wears a long chiton and the customary mouth band; a flute case made of spotted skin hangs by his side. In front of him, a broad jumper, Dorotheos, is swinging his weights; we are informed by the inscription that "he is going to jump." Kleainethos, the manager of the games, crowns a boy, "fair Epainetos," who is laden with branches. The boy's trainer, Alketes, stands behind him with two measuring sticks; he raises his hand in approval. There is a diskos thrower, Antiphanes, who readies himself for a backward swing. He is confronted by his trainer, Antimenes, holding a stick. Another youth, Batrachos, prepares to throw the javelin.

Drawn with strong, incisive lines, each figure stands out as a separate design, skillfully adjusted to the curving form of the vessel. The painting is attributed to Oltos, an artist whose signature appears on two kylikes, one in Berlin and another in Tarquinia. He is a master of the relief line, and his large, simple style has a monumental quality. Typical of the artist's work is the type of bearded trainer, shown here, wearing a mantle with radiating folds and zigzag edges. Likewise characteristic are the drapery folds stacked in one direction, and the hair regularly incised with a wavy line.

Source:  Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panathenaic amphora

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Panathenaic amphora, ca. 530 b.c.; Archaic

Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter, Greek, Attic, Terracotta

H. 24 1/2 in. (62.23 cm), Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.130.12)

This Panathenaic amphora would have been filled with oil from the sacred olive groves in Attica, and would have been awarded as a prize to some worthy victor in one of the Panathenaic games held in Athens every four years. With its typically fat body and small neck and foot, the prize vase is, perhaps, the best example of a vase shape made to serve an official function. Each Panathenaic amphora was made according to a standardized shape and capacity of one metretes (approximately 42 quarts), and was decorated in black-figure technique. The principle decoration is always in the panels of the body of the amphora, with an armed Athena typically on the front and an illustration of the featured competition on the back.

Foot races, the earliest competitions of the Olympic games, were undertaken over varying distances. The stadion, probably the original race, was a fast sprint over one length of the track (over 200 meters), while the diaulos and the dolichos, both introduced somewhat later, covered distances of approximately 400 meters and 1,400 to 3,800 meters, respectively. The painter of this vessel has neatly fit five sprinters—five men and a youth—into the panel of the pot. Notice the wealth of incised lines depicting musculature, a preoccupation of Greek artists for centuries to come.

Orders for Panathenaic amphorae were placed with leading artists of the time. On the basis of style, this vessel has been attributed to the Euphiletos Painter. An inscription on the front of the amphora gives not only the official designation of the vase as a prize, but also the signature of the potter, Nikias, a rare occurrence on pots of this shape.

Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panathenaic amphora

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Panathenaic amphora, ca. 530 b.c.; Archaic

Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter, Greek, Attic, Terracotta

H. 24 1/2 in. (62.23 cm), Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.130.12)

This Panathenaic amphora would have been filled with oil from the sacred olive groves in Attica, and would have been awarded as a prize to some worthy victor in one of the Panathenaic games held in Athens every four years. With its typically fat body and small neck and foot, the prize vase is, perhaps, the best example of a vase shape made to serve an official function. Each Panathenaic amphora was made according to a standardized shape and capacity of one metretes (approximately 42 quarts), and was decorated in black-figure technique. The principle decoration is always in the panels of the body of the amphora, with an armed Athena typically on the front and an illustration of the featured competition on the back.

Foot races, the earliest competitions of the Olympic games, were undertaken over varying distances. The stadion, probably the original race, was a fast sprint over one length of the track (over 200 meters), while the diaulos and the dolichos, both introduced somewhat later, covered distances of approximately 400 meters and 1,400 to 3,800 meters, respectively. The painter of this vessel has neatly fit five sprinters—five men and a youth—into the panel of the pot. Notice the wealth of incised lines depicting musculature, a preoccupation of Greek artists for centuries to come.

Orders for Panathenaic amphorae were placed with leading artists of the time. On the basis of style, this vessel has been attributed to the Euphiletos Painter. An inscription on the front of the amphora gives not only the official designation of the vase as a prize, but also the signature of the potter, Nikias, a rare occurrence on pots of this shape.

Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panathenaic prize amphora

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Panathenaic prize amphora, ca. 525–500 b.c.; black-figure
Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter, Greek, Attic, Terracotta

H. 25 in. (63.5 cm), Rogers Fund, 1916 (16.71)

Reverse: pankration (athletic contest) and judge            Obverse: Athena

This splendid Panathenaic amphora is inscribed with the words "from the games at Athens." On one side is the figure of Athena, the presiding goddess at the Panathenaic games in Athens, and on the other side, shown here, is the pankration, the contest at which this vase was awarded as a prize. The object of the pankration, a combination of boxing and wrestling, was to bring one's opponent to the ground. A favorite trick was to seize a contestant by the leg and force him to fall backward, such as depicted here. One athlete has grasped the other's foot and is trying to throw him by placing an arm under his opponent's thigh. A trainer stands nearby, closely watching the struggle to see that all rules are properly observed

The pankration was the toughest and most dangerous of all athletic events. One could twist, strangle, hit, and pound one's opponent; in fact, the only things forbidden were biting and gouging the eyes. Injury to the competitors was unavoidable since they sought to win by all possible means, heedless of the life of their opponents.

Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panathenaic prize amphora

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Panathenaic prize amphora, ca. 525–500 b.c.; black-figure
Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter, Greek, Attic, Terracotta

H. 25 in. (63.5 cm), Rogers Fund, 1916 (16.71)

Reverse: pankration (athletic contest) and judge            Obverse: Athena

This splendid Panathenaic amphora is inscribed with the words "from the games at Athens." On one side is the figure of Athena, the presiding goddess at the Panathenaic games in Athens, and on the other side, shown here, is the pankration, the contest at which this vase was awarded as a prize. The object of the pankration, a combination of boxing and wrestling, was to bring one's opponent to the ground. A favorite trick was to seize a contestant by the leg and force him to fall backward, such as depicted here. One athlete has grasped the other's foot and is trying to throw him by placing an arm under his opponent's thigh. A trainer stands nearby, closely watching the struggle to see that all rules are properly observed

The pankration was the toughest and most dangerous of all athletic events. One could twist, strangle, hit, and pound one's opponent; in fact, the only things forbidden were biting and gouging the eyes. Injury to the competitors was unavoidable since they sought to win by all possible means, heedless of the life of their opponents.

Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art