Bell Krater (mixing bowl for wine and water): Dionysos with Satyr and Maenad; Death of Orpheus

Artists

Description

Attic red-figure bell krater. SIDE A: Dionysus with a satyr and a maenad. The satyr plays a flute, and wears a wreath on his head. The Maenad plays a drum. Movement is indicated by her pose and the flowing skirt of her chiton, suggesting that she might be dancing. Her hair is encircled with a wreath made of two snakes. White paint is added to the tassel on the drum. In the center, Dionysus stands wearing a himation over a chiton. He is bearded, and his long hair is encircled by an ivy wreath. He holds an ivy staff in his right hand and pours wine from a kantharos with his left hand. SIDE B: The death of Orpheus. The three figures are set in an incised rock landscape atop a meander frieze. Left: one of the Thracian maenads wears a chlamys over a chiton, with her hair bound by a sphendone. She stabs Orpheus with a long spear. Center: Orpheus, nude with a folded mantle around his shoulders and left arm. He moves to avoid the woman’s spear, stretching out his right leg and supporting himself with his left hand. He holds his lyre above his head with his right arm. Right: a second Thracian maenad, wearing a peplos, with her hair also bound by a sphendone. Her contorted pose is awkwardly rendered, with her left arm and hand crossing her body holding a Thracian knife, and her right hand grasping the lyre. The strings of the lyre are painted in black paint added over the black background.

Dimensions

30 cm h x 25.2 cm diam. (11 13/16 x 9 15/16 in.)

Provenance

Hamburger Collection Frankfurt. [Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Berlin, Katalog, 2035,"Werke Antiker Kunst, Sammlungen A. Loebbecke-Braunschweig und Dr. Witte-Rostock," p. 14, pl. III, no. 458. by 1930]. David M. Robinson, Oxford, Mississippi, (by 1937-1959) bequest; to the Fogg Museum, 1960.