Amphora with Funerary Scenes

Place of OriginApulia, Italy

Dateabout 330-320 BCE

Dimensions40 1/2 × 15 × 15 × 11 5/8 × 8 1/2 in. (102.9 × 38.1 × 38.1 × 29.5 × 21.6 cm)
10 1/2 × 5 × 2 1/2 in.
10 × 5 × 2 1/4 in.

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

ClassificationCeramics

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

Object number

1977.46

On View

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

Collections

Decorative Arts

Published References"Etcetera," Art Gallery, vol. 22, no. 2, Dec. 1978/Jan. 1979, p. 19.

"News: New Acquisitions," Ohio Musuems 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.

Trendall, A. D., and Alexander Cambitoglou, The Red-figured Vases of Apulia. Volume II: Late Apulian, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, p. 868, no. 27/41, pl. 328.

Luckner, Kurt T., in The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia, Richmond, 1982, pp. 169-171, no. 69.

Boulter, Cedric G., and Kurt T. Luckner, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Toledo Museum of Art, fasc. 2, U.S.A., fasc. 20, Mainz, 1984, pls.102, 103, 104, 105.

Oehlschlaeger-Garvey, Barbara, "A new Apulian krater in The World Heritage Museum," The Journal of Aesthetic Education, vol. 19, no. 1, Spring 1985, p. 107, 112, n. 13.

Cassimatis, Hèléne, "Fenêtre de l'au-delà dans l'iconographie italiote," Melanges de Française de Rome (Antiquite), tome 107, 2, 1995, p. 1070, fig. 5, p. 1068.

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

Stutzinger, Dagmar, Griechen, Etrusker und Römer: Eine Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt im Spiegel der Sammlungen des Archaologischen Museums Frankfurt, Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 2012, fig. 172 p. 179-180.

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. 69.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Flot, M. Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, France fasc. 3, Musée de Compiègne fasc. unique, Paris, 1924, pl. 23, nos. 5, 12, text p. 17.

cf. Schauenburg, K. "Zur Symbolik Unteritalischer Rankenmotive," Meitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, Romische Abteilung, 64, 1957, pp. 198-221, pls. 33-44.

cf. Belloni, Gianguido, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy, fasc. XXI, Civico Museo Archaeologico Milano fasc. 1, Rome, 1959, pls. 6, 7.

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

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

cf. Chiesa, G.S., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy, fasc. XLIX, Milan, Collezione "H.A." fasc. 1, Rome, 1971, pl. 23-38.

cf. De Julius, E., "Scavi e scoperte, 36. Arpi (Foggia)," Studi Etruschi, 42, 1974, pp. 520-521, pl. 90b.

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. Trandall, and A. Cambitoglou, Eine Gruppe Apulischer Grabvasen in Basel Veröffentlichungen Des Antikenmuseums Basel, band 3, Basel and Munich, 1976, p. 54 ff.

cf. Giglioli, G.Q., Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Italy fasc. 1, Villa Guilia fasc. 1, Rome, n.d., IV D.r. tav. 4, nos. 1-5.

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.