Kylix (drinking cup): Preparation for the Hoplitodromos (Armed Race)

Artists

Description

Red-figure kylix (drinking cup); recomposed from fragments. Interior: a hoplitodromos (armed runner), nude with a scraggly beard and mustache, prepares for the race. His head is bound by a wool sash and a small filet, which the artist added in red paint. The man’s equipment for the race is strewn around him in the tondo: a helmet rests on a shield on the left; two greaves are on the right. Above the greaves hang two jumping weights (halteres). The emblem on the shield is mostly lost, but what remains suggests that it matches those of the shields on the exterior. Between the helmet and the man’s hip is the damaged inscription ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ [.....] ("the boy ...."). Exterior: hoplitodromoi. Side A: a trainer (paidotribe) with walking stick and switch instructs two nude athletes who are fully equipped with helmets, greaves, and shields; the shields have a leaf-shaped emblem. Behind the athlete on the left is a pick. The phrase ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ ΚΑΛΟΣ ("the boy is beautiful") is inscribed between the left and center figures. Side B: three nude athletes equipped with helmets and greaves practice for the race. The youth on the right holds his shield, the one on the left is stepping on it; the emblems are again leaf-shaped. A discus in a bag hangs at the center. ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ is inscribed below the proper left arm of the leftmost runner.

Dimensions

9.9 x 23.9 cm (3 7/8 x 9 7/16 in.) max. with handles: 10.1 x 31.3 cm (4 x 12 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Said to come from Greece. Private collection of Joseph Brummer to Frederick M. Watkins, 1948; Bequest to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1972.