Nolan Amphora (storage jar): Theseus and Sinis Grasping Fir Tree

Artists

Description

On one side: Theseus and Sinis. Sinis was a bandit who lived at the Isthmus of Corinth, the only land-route from the Greek mainland to the Peloponnesian peninsula, and would trick travelers into helping him bend trees down to the ground and releasing them so they were catapulted by the tree as it sprang back up. Because of this, he was sometimes called Pityokamptes, “Pine-bender”. This scene shows the Athenian hero Theseus outwitting Sinis and using his own trick against him. The unbearded Theseus stands on the left, wearing a short tunic (chiton) and holding Sinis’ left wrist in his right hand, looking down at the crouching Sinis. In his left hand he holds a coniferous tree bent down towards the ground, with its leaves and branches painted in added red. Guidelines from a preliminary sketch can be seen at the base of the tree. Sinis is on the right, nude and with long hair and a beard, facing Theseus but crouching down with his left leg extended, and his left arm extended and held by Theseus. He clutches the tree with his right arm. Both figures wear wreaths in added red. Between the figures, in the curve of the bent tree, is a non-sensical inscription in added red. On the other side: a youth draped in a cloak (himation) walks to the right looking back over his shoulder. He wears a wreath in added red. Strips of meander pattern act as ground line for the figural scenes, and are the only ornamental decoration. On the bottom of the foot there is an incised trademark NV, which also is found on three other vases attributed to the Alkimachos Painter. A small trident/psi has also been carved into the foot, apparently in modern times; the same mark is found on the foot of 1927.150, another amphora donated by Edward Perry Warren.

Dimensions

32.7 x 27.5 x 17.7 cm (12 7/8 x 10 13/16 x 6 15/16 in.)