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A kalpis from Piraeus Street by Polygnotos1
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 September 2013
Abstract
The kalpis published here was found in 1961 in Piraeus Street. The scene depicted on the body of the vase comprises four young women. The principal person, around whom the representation is organised, is a woman seated on a chair. She wears a chiton and a himation, has a diadem on her head and her two hands hold a larnax on her knees. The other three women are standing. They are dressed in pepla and the two on the right also wear diadems. The one standing in front of her holds an exaleiptron. High up in the background above the head of the seated woman hangs a wreath. The artistic style recalls Polygnotos and a comparison with his other works dates our kalpis to the decade 450–440 BC, in his early period. The graffito on the mouth of the vase, ON…I, is a known trade mark and probably concerns its price. The scene, which is set in a gynaeceum, is interpreted as the adornment of a bride, and is one of the earliest such representations known. It was probably inspired by wall painting. The Piraeus Street kalpis has now answered the question of the origin of this type of gynaeceum scene, which must be ascribed to Polygnotos himself and not to one of the artists of his Group.
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References
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5 See ARV 229, 38–9; Add2 199. Kalpides with decoration on the body are much commoner: ARV 229, 40–5; Add2 199.
6 e.g. the kalpis in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, no. 5.1961 (all round and under the handles): ARV 605, 63; Prange, Niobidenmaler, no. N 82, pl. 45. Also the kalpis in the Princeton University Art Museum, no. 33,42: ARV 605, 65; Prange, Niobidenmaler, no. N 84, pl. 4.
7 e.g. the kalpis in Sarajevo: CVA 1, pl. 34, 35; Prange, Niobidenmaler, no. 38 n. 118.
8 The kalpis in the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Vatican City, no. 17882: ARV 614, 11; Prange, Niobidenmaler, no. GN 76, pls. 18, 19.
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11 The Catalogue records that the vase was found in the believe it was found in the I.K.A. area in Piraeus Street in 1960, without further information about the location and conditions of the find. I believe it was found in the excavations of the Y.D.R.E.X. in 1961. See below, n. 71.
12 Schreiber (n. 2), 120–3.
13 ARV 1032, 54; Add 2 318; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 59, pl. 1.
14 For the spiral-shaped ear, cf. the woman with the oinochoe on the front of the pelike in the Martin von Wagner Museum at Wurzburg, no. ZA 25, ARV 610, 26. Prange, Niobidenmaler, no. N 64, pl. 9. For the inner line of the lip, cf. the head on the fragment in the Gahn Collection at Basel, no. HC 47: ARV 1661, 90 bis; Prange, Mobidenmaler, no. N 115, pl. 2.
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22 ARV 1032, 56; Add 2 318; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 61, pl. 48.
23 ARV 1031, 38; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 43, pl. 49.
24 ARV 1029, 18; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 19, pls. 54–5.
25 ARV 1056, 86; Add 2 322; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 35, pls. 57, 157.
26 A few examples may be cited: (a) the right-hand woman on the kalpis in the University of Mississippi Museum, Oxford, Miss., no. 1977.3.90 (Robinson Collection) by the Peleus Painter: ARV 1032, 64; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. PE 30, pl. 89; (b) the woman on the front of the stamnos in the Laon Museum, no. 37.1019, by the Christie Painter: ARV 1048, 37; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. CHR 39, pl. 105; (c) the Dionysus on the stamnos in the Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., no. 1925.30.42, again by the Christie Painter: ARV 1048, 38; Add 2 321; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. CHR 40, pl. 111; (d) the Dionysus on the calyxkrater in the San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas, no. 86.134.77, by the Curd Painter: Matheson, Polygnotos, no. CUR 6. pl. 114.
27 ARV 1032, 58; Para. 442; Add 2 318; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 63, pl. 28.
28 ARV 1032, 59; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 64, pl. 60.
29 ARV 605, 62; Add 2 267; Prange, Nobidenmaler, no. N. 81.
30 See above, n. 17.
31 ARV 1029, 21; Para. 442; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 23, pl. 51.
32 ARV 1031, 51; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 56, pl. 56.
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42 For example, the kalpis in the Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire, Brussels, no. A 3096, by the Brussels group A3096: ARV 1033, 1; Para. 443; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. BR 3, pl. 179.
43 See above, n. 20.
44 Private collection in Basel (H. Cahn): Prange, Nobidenmaler, no. N 101, pl. 8.
45 Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Spina, Ferrara, no. 3058 (T.271): ARV 1032, 58; Para. 442; Add 1 318; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 63, pl. 28. Royal Museum of Scotland at Edinburgh, no. 1877.29: ARV 1032, 59; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 64, pl. 60. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, no. 14983: ARV 1032, 60; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 65, pl. 58. Princeton University Art Museum, no. 1986–59 a–d; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 66, pl. 59. Museo Nazionale Archeologico, Naples, no. 81398: ARV 1032, 61; Para. 442; Add 2 318; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 67, pl. 14.
46 Archäologisches Museum der Universität Leipzig, no. T 667 (lost): ARV 1032, 62; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 68.
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48 See above, n. 18.
49 See above, n. 17.
50 ARV 1060, 145; Para. 445; Add 2 323; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. PGU 171, pl. 149.
51 Matheson, Polygnotos, 288–90.
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55 The lebes gamikos in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, no. 07.286.35, by the Washing Painter (430–420 BC); ARV 1126, 1; Para. 453; Add 2 332; Reeder (n. 52), 224–6, no. 55. Also lebes gamikos in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Preußischer Kulturbesitz, no. F 2405 = Kavvadias (n. 53), no. F 2405, pl. 67.
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58 e.g. the loutrophoros in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, no. 1927.4067, by Athens Painter 1454: ARV 1179.
59 For the wreath in a marriage context, see Blech, M., Studien zum Kranz bei den Griechen (Berlin and New York, 1982), 75–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the wreath in funerary representations, see ibid., 81–98.
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64 Lebes gamikos in Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen, no. 9165, by the Mykonos Painter: ARV 514, 2; Sgourou (n. 61), no. R 8, pl. 18 a.
65 Lebes gamikos in the Akademisches Kunstmuseum, Bonn, no. 1520, close to the Mykonos Painter: ARV 516; Sgourou (n. 61), no. R 9, pl. 18 b.
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72 Kurtz and Boardman (n. 68), 204, 210, 241.
73 VA 171; ARV 1027–33; 1678–9, 1707; Para. 442–3; Add 2 317–18; Matheson, Polygnotos.
74 ARV 1027, 1; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 1, pl. 19. ARV 1027, 2, 1678; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 2, pl. 38. ARV 1029, 28 bis; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 31. ARV 1030, 34; Para. 442; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 39, pls. 17–18. ARV 1932, 53; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 58, pl. 13.
75 ARV 1036–7, 1–15, 1679. Para. 443. Add 2 318; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. H 1-H 15.
76 ARV 1032, 64; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. PE 30. ARV 1038–40, 1–25, 1679. Para. 443. Add 2 319; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. PE 1-PE 31.
77 ARV 1044–6, 1–13, 1652; Para. 444; Add 2 320; Matheson, Polygnotos, nos. L 1-L 13.
78 ARV 1046–9, 1–55, 1679; Add 2 320–1; Matheson, Polygnotos, nos. CHR 1-CHR 58.
79 ARV 1143–7, 1–68, 1684; Para. 455–7; Add 2 334–5; Matheson, Polygnotos, nos. KL 1-KL 77; ARV 1149, 9, 1588; Para. 457; Add 2 335; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. KL 30.
80 ARV 1151–5, 1–46, 1685. Para. 457. Add 1 336; Matheson, Polygnotos, nos. D 1-D 52.
81 See above, n. 73.
82 Matheson, Polygnotos. Recently another work by him has been added to those already known: Geka, P., ‘Αττικἠ Ερυθρόμορφη κάλπή’, A.Delt. 47–8 (1992–1993), Mel. 143–249Google Scholar.
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84 See above, n. 15.
85 A characteristic work of this period is the stamnos in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, no. 1916.68, depicting the Dioscuri: ARV 1028, 6; Add 2 Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 5, pl. 29.
86 A representative work for the rendering of folds of garments is the loutrophoros in the Royal Ontario Museum at Toronto, no. 929.22–3 (635): see n. 32.
87 e.g. the representation of a symposium on the stamnos in the Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome, no. 3584; ARV 1028, Etrusco 15; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 15, pl. 9.
88 e.g. the calyx-krater m the Museo Civico Archeologico, Bologna, no. 17358 (Pell. 288 bis): ARV 1056, 86; Add 2 322; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 35, pls. 57, 157.
89 ARV 1028, 13, 1678; Add 2 317; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 13. pl. 53.
90 See above, n. 22.
91 ARV 1032. 60; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 65, pl. 58.
92 ARV 1030, 32; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 37.
93 ARV 1031, 52; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 57.
94 ARV 1031, 37; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 42, pl. 12.
95 ARV 1029, 27; Matheson, Polygnotos, no. P 28.