Kylix (drinking cup); Front: a victorious athlete; Back: a marker boy; Interior: a centaur; Inscription: "The boy is handsome."
Artist: The Painter of the Bowdoin Eye Cup (Greek)
Date: about 520 BCE
Dimensions:
H: 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm); Diam (lip): 12 29/32 in. (32.8 cm); Diam (with handles): 16 1/8 in. (41 cm); Diam (foot): 4 23/32 in. (12 cm)
Medium: Red Figure; Wheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware
Place of Origin: Greek, Attic
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1963.28
Label Text:The combination of the black-figure technique on the interior and red-figure on the exterior is an example of “bilingual” vase painting, made during the period from about 530 to 500 BCE, when the fashion changed from black-figure to red-figure and some vase painters worked in both techniques. The exterior of the cup shows a victorious athlete on one side, and a trainer measuring the distance an athlete has jumped or thrown a javelin on the reverse. The eyes painted on the sides are thought to represent Dionysos, god of wine. The centaur on the interior, about to throw a boulder, refers to the mythical battle of Lapiths and centaurs, started when the centaurs became drunk and rowdy at the wedding feast of the Lapith king Peirithous.
On view
In Collection(s)