Volute Krater with Funerary Scenes

Place of OriginApulia, Italy

Dateabout 330-320 BCE

DimensionsH (to top of handle volute, without restored stand): 36 1/2 in. (92.7 cm); H (to rim): 29 3/4 in. (75.6 cm); Diam (rim): 19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm); W (across handle volutes): 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm); H (with restored stand): 40 7/8 in. (103.9 cm)

MediumRed-figure, wheel-thrown, slip-decorated earthenware.

ClassificationCeramics

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

Object number

1977.45

Not on View

DescriptionLarge volute-krater with red-figure decoration. Obverse: seated man clasping a woman's hand within a naiskos, accompanied by a female attendant. Reverse: seated nude youth holding a phiale. Decorative elements include floral motifs and Erotes figures.

Label TextThe central scene on this funerary vessel, featuring figures holding symbolic objects and surrounded by attendants presenting offerings, reflects the Apulian tradition of commemorating the deceased through idealized depictions within a shrine-like structure or naiskos. The Baltimore Painter is a significant Apulian vase-painter active in the late fourth century BCE, named after a volute-krater housed in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. This name, like many others used for ancient Greek vase painters, is a modern scholarly convention rather than a historical identity. Since most ancient vase painters did not sign their works, art historians attribute vases to individual artists based on stylistic analysis. By identifying consistent features such as the treatment of figures, drapery, floral patterns, and compositional choices, scholars can group vases under the hand of a single artist. TMA's two vessels attributed to this artist, 1977.45 and 1977.46, were purchased from the same dealer and reportedly found together; research into their provenance is ongoing.Published References"La chronique des arts," Gazette Des Beaux-Arts, col. 93, no. 1323, Apr. 1979, repr. no. 156, p. 32.

"News: New Acquisitions," Ohio Museums Quarterly, vol. 3, no. 1, Spr. 1979, p. 15.

"1978 Annual Report," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 21, no. 1, 1979, p. 6, repr. p. 7.

Berkowitz, R.M., "The Patriotic Fund Vases: Regency awards to the Navy," Apollo, vol. 113, no. 228, Feb. 1981, p. 105, fig. 1.

Trendall, A. D., and Alexander Cambitoglou, The Red-figured Vases of Apulia. Volume II: Late Apulian, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, pp. 862-863, no. 27/13, pl. 322.

Luckner, Kurt T., The Art of South Italy: Vases of Magna Graecia, Richmond, 1982, pp. 164-167, no. 68.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Toledo Museum of Art, fasc. 2, U.S.A. fasc. 20, Mainz, 1982, pls. 98, 99, 100, 101.

Schauenburg, Konrad, "Unterweltsbilder aus Grossgreichenland," Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, Mitteilungen, Roemische Abteilung, bd. 91, 1984, p. 367, taf. 112,1.

Stutzinger, Dagmar, Neuerwerbungen des Museums aus den Jahren 1986-1999, Frankfurt am Main, 2000, p. 141, Abb. 7.

Cassimatis, Helene, "Le miroir dans les representations funeraires apuliennes," Menages de l'ecole Francaise de Rome, tome 110, no. 1, 1998, p. 22, fig. 12.

Exhibition HistorySwiss Art and Antiquities Fair, Basel, 1977.

The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (May 12-Aug. 8, 1982); Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa (Nov. 20, 1982 - Jan. 9, 1983); The Detroit Institute of Arts (Feb. 7 - April 10, 1983); no. 68.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Belloni, G., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy, fasc. XXI, Civico Museuo Archaeologico Milano, fasc. 1, Rome, 1959, pls. 6 and 7.

cf. Arias, P.E. A History of 1000 Years of Greek Vase Painting, New York, 1961, pl. L, p. 391.

cf. Devambez, P. Greek Painting, New York, 1962, pp. 156, 157.

cf. Robertson, M. "Greek Mosaics," Journal of Hellenic Studies, 85, 1965, pp. 72-89, pls. XVII-XXII.

cf. Trendall, A.D., South Italian Vase Painting, The British Museum 1966, pp. 21, 22, and col. pl. B.

cf. Chiesa, G., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy fasc. XLIX, Milan Collezione "H.A." fasc. 1, Rome, 1971, pls. 17-18, pls 1-22. cf. Robertson, M., A History of Greek Art, London, 1975, vol. I, pp. 486-487, vol. II, pls. 152b, 152c, 153a.

cf. Schmidt, M, A.D. Trendall and A. Cambitoglou, Eine Gruppe Apulischer Grabvasen in Basel Veröffentlichungen Des Antikenmuseums Basel, band 3, Basel and Mainz, 1976, pp. 54 ff.

cf. Antiken Vasen, Sonderliste R. Basel, Münzen und Medaillen A.G., Dec. 1977, p. 25, no. 69, illus.

cf. Moretti, M., The National Museum of Villa Guilia, trns. Rome, n.d. p. 148, figs. 120, 121, and p. 153.