established 1942
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IMPORTANT ATTIC BLACK-FIGURE NECK AMPHORA FROM THE LEAGROS GROUP Herakles raising the Erymanthian Boar over Eurystheus who is hiding in a storage jar (pithos)/ Dionysos holding a kantharos flanked by two white-skinned maenads. Published: J. Eisenberg, One Thousand Years of Ancient Greek Vases, 1990, no. 29. Ex English collection; Patricia Kluge collection, Charlottesville, Virginia, acquired from Royal-Athena in 1990. Ca. 515-500 BC H. 17 in. (43.2 cm.) 1,000 Years of Ancient Greek Vases II, no. 41 PK0987K SOLD See Detail Images Below |
| Side A: Herakles holds the Erymanthian Boar upside down on his left shoulder, scaring the daylights out of Eurystheus, who hides in a sunken storage jar (pithos), gesturing excitedly. Athena looks on at right, and at left is Iolaos, Herakles’ nephew and frequent companion. Herakles has a red beard and hair, and there are red spots on his lionskin. One leg of the skin is tucked under the hero’s belt, which also secures the long sword on his hip. The boar has a red snout and white tusks. Herakles’ bow and quiver stand behind him; his club rests against the pithos. Iolaos wears a short chiton, red belt, and scabbard, and carries a spear or staff. His beard and forelocks are red. Athena stands to the left, her torso concealed by her round shield, which has red dots on the rim and a white device in the form of a chariot box. Her face and feet are white. Her long garment is probably a peplos, but it is not clear what the other pendant drapery could be: it is not the aegis, nor can it be the himation. The goddess wears a low-crested helmet, without cheek-flaps, and rests her spear on one shoulder. The goddess Hera hated Herakles because he was the son of her husband Zeus and the mortal woman Alkmene. When it was fated that Herakles and Eurystheus would be born on the same day, and that the first-born would have dominion over the other and be king of Argos, Hera intervened to have Eurystheus born prematurely. Eurystheus was a spiteful weakling and envious of Herakles. It was he who set Herakles the Twelve Labors, one of which was to capture the vicious boar of Erymanthos. When the hero returned to Argos with the beast, Eurystheus was so terrified that he hid in a pithos. Side B: Dionysos stands in the center, facing right. He wears a long chiton and is mantled from chin to ankles in a red-spotted himation. A red ivy wreath is in his hair. He holds his wine-cup (kantharos) in his left hand. His long beard has a single red stripe in it. Behind the god, emerging at left and right, is a long sinuous grapevine. Flanking Dionysos are two white-skinned maenads, both dancing away from the god but looking back and gesturing at him. Both maenads wear red ivy wreaths, long chitons, and himations draped over their shoulders. For Herakles and the Boar, see S.B. Luce, “Herakles and the Erymanthian Boar,” AJA 28, 1928, 296-325; and F. Brommer, Herakles, London, 1986, 19-20. There are no vase-paintings of the story before the mid-6th century. The subject was represented often in Attic black-figure, often with Iolaos and Athena in attendance. The subject is much rarer in red-figure, practically disappearing after the Persian Wars; one of the latest may also be the best: the kylix in London painted by Onesimos (Brit. Mus. E 44; ARV 318, 2). The subject is not common in sculpture, but is found in most series of the Twelve Labors; e.g. metope 7 from the east porch of the temple of Zeus at Olympia; see J. Boardman, Greek Sculpture: The Classical Period, London, 1985, fig. 22.7. An earlier relief, of about 500 B.C., was found in Athens: J Boardman, Greek Sculpture in the Archaic Period, London, 1978, fig. 260. The Leagros Group was a large and diverse black-figure workshop specializing in the decoration of pots (as opposed to cups) in the last quarter of the sixth century. The group was named for Leagros, an aristocratic boy whose beauty was praised on many painted vases of the day, not only those of the Leagros Group. Over 500 vases have been attributed to the group and a number of individual hands recognized within it. The scenes on their pots have a new vigor and complexity, with large, overlapping figures and clear, bold incision of details. The deeds of Herakles are among the subjects most favored by the Group. For the Leagros Group, see Beazley, ABV 354-91, 695-96, and 715; Paralipomena 160-72 and 519; Beazley Addenda 95-103; J. Boardman, Athenian Black Figure Vases, Oxford, 1974, 110-111; E. Francis and M. Vickers, PCPS 207, 1981, 97-136; T. Linders, MedMusB 3, 1963, 54-66; E. Vermeule, BMFA 63, 1965, 34-52; and K. Duplan, RA , 1972, 127-40. Apparently unbroken and in very good condition. The shape is canonical and differs little from the vase number six, being only a little smaller and with somewhat taller handles and a red fillet between foot and body. The ornament is also very similar, but there are dots in spaces below the lotus buds and no incision or added color in the lotus and palmette chain. |
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