Lekythos with the Exile of Danaë and Perseus

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Lekythos with the Exile of Danaë and Perseus

Artist Providence Painter (Greek)

Place of OriginGreece, Athens

Dateabout 470 BCE

DimensionsOverall: H 16 × Diam 5 5/8 in. (40.6 × 14.3 cm)
Base Diam: 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm)
Rim Diam: 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm)

MediumRed Figure; Wheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1969.369

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionA tall, wheel-thrown lekythos with a narrow neck and rounded shoulder, decorated in the red-figure technique. The main figural scene shows Danaë and Perseus about to be set adrift by King Akrisios. In the center, an open chest reveals Perseus standing inside, his himation draped over his left shoulder, raising his right hand in a saluting gesture toward his mother. Danaë, wearing a chiton, himation, fillet, and bracelets, bends slightly forward, resting her right hand on the chest's edge while holding an alabastron in her raised left hand. On the right, Akrisios stands in a commanding pose, right arm raised, and holding a scepter topped with a lotus finial and pointed like a spear. The chest features painted decoration of dots, circles, star-rosettes, and a silhouette frieze of two lions attacking a boar; its feet are shaped like lion paws.

Label TextThis vase shows a family on the edge of disaster. King Akrisios, fearing a prophecy that his grandson will one day cause his death, sends his daughter Danaë and her infant son Perseus adrift in a wooden chest. The painter, working in Athens around 470 BCE, tells this story not with dramatic faces but with quiet gestures: the king’s rigid arm commands their exile, Danaë steadies herself beside the chest, and Perseus raises his hand to her in farewell. Danaë holds an alabastron, a small oil flask, directly over her son’s head. In ancient Greece, such vessels were used to anoint the dead during funeral rites—a quiet reminder that their journey could end in death.Published ReferencesMünzen and Medaillen A.G., Auktion 40. Kunstwerke der Antike. 13. Dezember 1969. Basel.

"Recent Accessions," Art Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 4, 1970, pp. 454, 455.

Luckner, Kurt T., "Greek Vases: Shapes and Uses," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 15, no. 3, 1972, pp. 82-83, figs. 33, 34.

Brommer, Frank, Vasenlisten zur greichen Heldensagen, 3rd ed., Marburg, 1973, p. 273, no. 16.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Toledo Museum of Art, U.S.A. Fasc. 17, Toledo, 1976, p. 29, repr. pl. 44.

Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC), Zürich, 1981, v. I, pt. 1, p. 451, no. 5, repr. v. I, pt. 2, p. 343, vol. III, p. 331, no. 43.

Brümmer, Elfriede, "Griechische Truhenbehälter," Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen instituts, Bd. 100, 1985, p. 45, abb. 11a, p. 47.

Carpenter, T.H., Art and myth in ancient Greece, New York, 1991, p. 103, fig. 146, p. 109.

March, Jenny, Cassell dictionary of classical mythology, London, 1998, p. 124, fig. 45.

Oakley, John H., "Pity in Classical Athenian painting," in Pity and power in ancient Athens, ed. by Rachel Hall Sternberg, Cambridge Eng., Cambridge University PRess, 2005, p. 193-194, fig. 1.

Buxton, Richard, Den grekiska mytologins värld, Stockholm, Prisma, 2007, p. 104, repr.

Exhibition HistoryDallas, Meadow Museum; Amarillo Art Center, Classical myth in Western art: ancient through modern, 1985-1986, no. 5, p. 34, repr. p. 35, (col.) frontispiece.

Baltimore, The Walters Art Gallery; Dallas Museum of Art; Basel, Antikenmuseum und Sammlung Ludwig, Pandora: Women in Classical Greece, 1995, no. 75, pp. 271-272, repr. p. 271.

Hanover, NH, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College; New York, Onassis Cultural Center; Cincinnati Art Museum; Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, Coming of age in ancient Greece: images of childhood from the classical past, 2003-2004, no. 13, p. 213-214, repr. (col.) p. 203, 213.