Stamnos with Poseidon and Amphitrite

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Stamnos with Poseidon and Amphitrite

Artist Syleus Painter (Greek)

Place of OriginGreece, Attica

Dateabout 480 BCE

DimensionsH: 14 1/8 in. (36 cm); Diam. of lip: 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm), Diam. of body: 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm), Diam. of foot: 6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm)

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

ClassificationCeramics

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

Object number

1956.58

On View

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

DescriptionRed-figure stamnos with added red and reserved outlines. On the front (Side A), Poseidon and Amphitrite sit facing each other on folding stools, each holding a phiale for wine libation. Between them stands a winged Nike who holds an oinochoe and a flower. All wear chiton and himation. Nike’s wings and drapery are rendered in strict symmetry, with upper edges aligned to the painted border above. The scene is framed by tongue, net, and checker borders. On the reverse (Side B), a trainer in back view addresses two nude boxers preparing for a contest. He holds a wand and a pair of styluses. The boxers adjust thongs in their hands. Thongs are rendered in relief lines. Selective use of added red appears in fillets, floral elements, wine stream, and one athlete’s wreath. Graffito traces visible under foot.

Label TextThe figures on the front of the vase present a moment of divine stillness, as the sea god Poseidon, clutching his trident, sits across from his wife, Amphitrite. Between them stands the winged goddess Nike, pouring a libation. This formal scene is one of quiet, eternal power. The artist, known as the Syleus Painter, used the red-figure technique, leaving the figures in the warm red of the clay to stand out from the deep black background. On the reverse, a moment of anticipation and discipline unfolds. Two boxers stand with their trainer, each poised in a stage of preparation for the contest. On the left, an athlete begins to wrap a long leather cord around his wrist - such thongs were an early form of boxing gloves. His counterpart on the right holds his thong coiled in his left hand.Published References

Washington, Seldon, "Greek Vase Painting," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 5, no. 4, Winter 1962, repr. p. 93.

Beazley, John D., Attic Red-Figure Vase Painters, 2nd ed., Oxford, 1963, pp. 251, no. 30, 1963, 1701.

Riefstahl, Rudolph, "Greek Vases," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 11, no. 2, 1968, repr. p. 42.

Luckner, Kurt T., "Greek Vases: Shapes and Uses," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 15, no. 3, p. 73, repr. fig. 15.

Beazley, John D., Paralipomena, Oxford, 1971, p. 350.

Philappaki, Barbara, The Attic Stamonos, Oxford, 1967, p. 98, pl. 36,1.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Toledo Museum of Art, U.S.A. Fasc. 27-28, Toledo, 1976, p. 26, repr. pl. 42, graffiti drawing, fig. 7.

Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC), Zurich, 1981, v. I, pt. 1, p. 727, no. 36, repr. v. I, pt. 2, p. 581, (accession number listed incorrectly as 56.24), vol. VI, pt. 1, p. 869, no. 212, vol. VII, pt. 1, p. 472, no. 226.

March, Jenny, Cassell Dictionary of Classical Mythology, London, 1998, p. 45, fig. 15.

Pevnick, Seth D., Poseidon and the Sea: Myth, Cult, and Daily Life, Tampa, Tampa Museum of Art, 2014, pp. 28, 46-47, 60, repr. (col.) p. 143.

Exhibition History

Tampa, Tampa Museum of Art; Hanover, VT, Hood Museum of Art, Poseidon and the Sea: Myth, Cult, and Daily Life, June 14, 2014-Mar. 15, 2015.