Volute Krater with Dionysus and Ariadne

Artist Creusa Painter (Greek, active about 410-370 BCE)

Place of OriginLucania, Italy

Dateabout 400-380 BCE

DimensionsOverall (with handles): 23 3/8 × 18 × 14 1/4 in. (59.4 × 45.7 × 36.2 cm)
H (to rim): 20 3/16 in. (51.3 cm)
Body Diam: 14 9/16 in. (37 cm)
Base Diam: 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm)
Rim Diam: 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm)

MediumWheel-thrown, slip-decorated, red-figure earthenware.

ClassificationCeramics

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

Object number

1981.110

On View

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

DescriptionLarge ceramic vessel with ornate handles curling into volutes, decorated in red-figure technique depicting mythological figures.

Label TextOn this large vessel used to mix wine and water, a young warrior takes leave of his wife and returns from battle victorious. On the opposite side, in a cave, Ariadne crowns her husband Dionysos, god of wine, rebirth, and the theater, with a laurel wreath. Around them, Pan, the god of the forest, satyrs (part-men, part-goats), and maenads (female followers of Dionysos) prepare for a celebration.Published ReferencesLuckner, Kurt T., in The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia, Richmond, 1982, no. 6, pp. 63-66.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Toledo Museum of Art, fasc. 2, U.S.A., fasc. 20, Mainz, 1984, pl. 91, 92, 93, pp. 16-18.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 41, repr. (col.).

Sparkes, Brian A., The red and the black: studies in Greek pottery, London, 1996, p. 21, fig. I:16, p. 24.

Camitoglou, Alexander, "Lucani, vasi," in Enciclopedia dell'arte antica, classica e orientale, secondo supplemento, 3 (H-Neo), Rome, 1995, p. 429, fig. 520.

Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC), Zurich, 1981-1999, vol. III, pt. 1, p. 485, no. 741, repr. vol. III, pt. 2, p. 385.

Dorr, Erin, "Fragments of a lost culture," Perspectives [Ohio University], vol. 10, no. 1, Spring-Summer 2006, side A, repr. p. 1 (det., col.) and p. 21 (det., col.).

Söldner, Magdalene, Bios Eudaimon: zur Ikonographie des Menschen in der rotfiguren Vasenmalerei Unteritaliens: die Bilder aus Lukanien, [Möhnesee] Bibliopolia, 2007, p. 92 no.694, 94 nos. 709 and 717, Abb. 130.

Buxton, Richard, Den grekiska mytologins värld, Stockholm, Prisma, 2007, repr. (Side A), p. 4, and (det.) on front cover (col.).

Indianapolis Opera, Indianapolis Opera 2009-2010 Season Program, 2009, repr. (col.det.), front and back cover.

Thorn, Jed, "New Evidence for Apulian Red-Figure Production Centers," Archaeometry, vol. 52, no. 5, Oct. 2010, repr. (col.) p. 783.

Exhibition History"The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (May 12 - Aug. 8, 1982); Philbrook Art Center (Nov. 20, 1982 - Jan. 9, 1983); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit (Feb. 7 - Apr. 10, 1983) no. 6.

Ann Arbor, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and The University of Michigan Museum of Art, The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii: ancient ritual, modern muse, 2000, no. 72, pp. 207-208, repr.