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| APULIAN LARGE RED-FIGURE COLUMN KRATER BY THE DIJON PAINTER Female holding situla, pouring from an oinochoe into a kantharos held by an armed warrior; behind, female with wreath. Published: A.D. Trendall, Red-Figure Vases of Apulia, Suppl. II, 1992, p. 33, no. 6/166A. Ex Swiss collection; Patricia Kluge collection, Charlottesville, Virginia, acquired from Royal-Athena in 1991. Ca. 370-360 BC H. 20 1/2 in. (52 cm.) Art of the Ancient World, 2011, no. 124 1,000 Years of Ancient Greek Vases II, no. 129 PK0988K SOLD |
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| Side A: A warrior is taking his leave of two women, probably family members. He stands in the center, facing left, his weight resting on his left leg. He wears a tunic, cloak, and Attic helmet with S-shaped crest-holder. His long hair emerges from beneath the helmet and hangs down his back. In his left arm he holds a pair of spears and a round shield with white dots on the rim and a bold device: a white whirligig. In his extended right hand he holds a kantharos, which the woman at left is filling from a jug. The bucket (a situla of type 1) which the woman holds in her left hand probably contains water. The woman wears a chiton, himation, earrings, bracelets, and a type of snood with an opening in the rear: a kekryphalos. Growing between her and the warrior is a small laurel tree, and in the field above is a rosette. The helmet and all three vessels are painted yellow (diluted black glaze applied over white) to show that they are metal. A second woman runs up from the right, with a wreath in one hand and a tray of offerings in the other. Among the offerings, which are tinted yellow, is a loaf of bread and two pyramidal cakes. The tray is decorated with a maeander. The woman wears a belted chiton, shoes, earrings, bracelets, a necklace, and a bandeau (sphendone). The angle at which the warrior holds the kantharos will cause wine to spill on the ground; he is making a libation, an offering to the gods to insure a safe journey and good fortune in war. Such departure and libation scenes are reflections of daily life and the continuation of a long artistic tradition reaching back 200 years to scenes on Attic black-figure vases. The wreath brought by the woman at right is an omen of victory and is also appropriate to wear when making offerings. The cakes can be understood both as additional offerings at the ceremony of departure and an allusion to the offerings brought to the tombs, a reminder that the young warrior may be going to his death. Such double meanings are common in Apulian vase-paintings, which are frequently on vessels made specifically for funerary use. Side B: Two youths converse at the left, as a third youth gestures toward them from the right. All three wear himations, and the one at center holds a walking stick. The square “window” and the libation bowl (phiale) in the background are common filling ornaments. The low pillar below the “window,” however, and the pair of jumping-weights at the upper left, identify the setting as the palaestra, the public exercise ground. The streaks on the pillar resemble the dried blood on altars, and we may wonder if a double-meaning is intended. Jumping-weights (halteres) were used by broad-jumpers to try to increase the length of their jump; with one in each hand, the jumper flung his arms forward during the leap, so that the momentum of the weights would pull him forward. The Dijon Painter was a follower of the Tarporley Painter and like him worked in the so-called “Plain Style.” A close parallel to this scene is found on another column-krater by the artist, but with the warrior dressed in native Apulian garb; Ruvo 620 (RVAp I, 154, no. 6/165). The warrior on this vase may also be Italian, but the distinctive Apulian tunic is covered by the shield. The figures on the reverse are also typical of the artist, as are the jumping-weights and pillar; cf. Vatican 17946; RVAp I, 148, no. 6/95. Apparently unbroken and in excellent condition. The shape is standard for Apulian column-kraters of the period, with a tall neck, tapering lower body, and a tall foot with a reserved groove at the top. The pictures have lateral frames of ivy vines (debases into straight lines framed by dots), and upper frames of simple black tongues. On either side of the neck is a broad reserved band with a large (and more naturalistic) ivy vine; the dotted rosettes between the leaves represent ivy berries. The sides of the handle plates are decorated with black palmettes. There is a wave pattern on the side of the obverse rim and a row of chevrons on the reverse. The groundlines of both pictures consist of groups of linked maeanders to left alternating with saltire-squares. |
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