Amphora with the Ransom of Hektor

ArtistAttributed to Rycroft Painter (Greek)

Place of OriginGreece, Athens

Dateabout 520-510 BCE

DimensionsH: 27 in. (68.6 cm); diam. of lip: 13 13/32 in. (34 cm); diam. of body: 17 23/32 in. (45 cm); diam of foot: 10 1/8 in. (25.74 cm); width of handles: 2 3/4 in. (7 cm)

MediumWheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware with incised details

ClassificationCeramics

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

Object number

1972.54

Not on View

DescriptionA large amphora with a black-figure decoration depicting a poignant moment from Homer’s Iliad—the aged King Priam pleading with Achilles for the return of his son Hektor’s body. The reverse side features a scene of soldiers departing for war. Richly incised and detailed figures are complemented by symbolic objects, such as a tripod and phialai, evoking narrative depth.

Label TextI have borne what no man who has walked this earth has ever yet borne. I have kissed the hand of the man who killed my son. (Iliad, Book 24) Aged King Priam of Troy visits the enemy Greek camp to beg the warrior Achilles for the body of his son Hektor, whom Achilles has killed in battle. Here white-haired Priam lurches toward Achilles, who heartlessly drinks over Hektor’s body. At the left, the god Hermes escorts a servant carrying the ransom to secure the body (a gold tripod and gold bowls). On the back is a scene of soldiers departing for war. The Rycroft Painter, whose real name is unknown, is recognized for two stylistic quirks: drawing left hands as right (see Achilles and Hektor’s corpse) and ears in reverse (as on Achilles).Published ReferencesBoulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus vasorum antiquorum: Toledo Museum of Art, U.S.A. Fasc. 17, Toledo, 1976, p. 2-4, repr. pl. 4 and 5, fig. 1-2.

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 19, nos. 2 & 3, 1976; p. 47, repr.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections; Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 2 (col.).

Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classiae (LIMC), Zurich, 1981, v. I, pt. 1, p. 149, no. 649, repr. v. I., pt. 2, p. 122; vol. III, pt. 1, p. 162; vol. V, pt. 2, p. 334, no. 578.

Moon, Warren. G., "Some new and little-known vases by the Rycroft and Priam Painters," in Greek Vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum, vol. 2, Malibu, 1985, p. 55, no. 25, repr. fig. 15.

Wescoat, Bonna D., Poets & heroes: scenes of the Trojan War, Atlanta, 1986, p. 10-11, fig. 1, (not in exhibition).

Shapiro, H.A., Myth into art, London, 1994, p. 41-2, fig. 24.

Guiliani, Luca, Bild und Mythos: Geschichte der Bilderzahlung in der griechischen Kunst, Munchen, C.H. Beck, 2003, p. 175, 351, no. 34, repr. (det.).

Duncan, Sally Anne, Otto Wittmann: Museum Man for All Seasons, Toledo, 2001, repr. p. 12.

Baughan, Elizabeth, P., "Lale Tepe: a Late Tumulus near Sardis. 3. The Klinai," Love for Lydia. A Sardis Anniversary Volume Presented to Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr., ed. N.D. Cahilll, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2008, p. 64, repr. p. 63.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 71, repr. (col.).

Albersmeier, Sabine, ed., Heroes! Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece, Baltimore, MD, Walters Art Gallery, 2009, no. 22, repr. (col.) p. 202.

Matheson, Susan B. and J. J Pollitt, Old Age in Greek and Roman Art, Yale University Art Gallery, 2022, App.132, repr. (col.) p. 160-162, 235.

Exhibition HistoryChicago, Chicago Art Institute, Greek vase-painting in Midwestern collections, 1979-1980, no. 65, p. 114, repr.

Baltimore, Walters Art Museum; Nashville, First Center for the Visual Arts; San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art; New York, Onassis Cultural Center, Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece, 2009-2011. Pacific Palisades, CA, The Getty Villa; Atlanta, GA, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Picture Worlds: Greek, Maya, and Moche Pottery, Apr. 10 - Dec. 15, 2024.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Beazley, John D., Attic Black-figure Vase-painters, Oxford, 1956, pp. 335 ff.

See also Beazley, John D., Paralipomea, Oxford, 1971, pp. 14-149.

See also Kunze, E., Archaische Schildbänder, (Olympische Forschungen II), Berlin, 1950, pp. 145-148 (on the treatment of the ransom of Hector).

See also Johansen, The Illiad in Early Greek Art, Copenhagen, 1967, pp. 127 ff. and 267-268.

See also Auktion 34. Kunstwerke der Antike. 6.Mai 1967. Münzen und Medaillen AG Basel, pp. 75-76, lot no. 149.

See also Brommer, Frank. Vasenlisten zur griechischen Heldensage, 3rd ed., Marburg, 1973, pp. 464 ff.

See also Robertson, Martin, Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 74, 1954, pp. 229-230 (for the Rycroft Painter's characteristic of rendering left hands as right).