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Tondo Composition in Archaic and Classical Greek Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

T. B. L. Webster
T. B. L. Webster
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
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Extract

The four centuries with which this study of Greek tondos is concerned cover a period which begins in the reign of Gyges of Lydia and ends shortly before the accession of Alexander the Great. Most of the tondos which have survived are of small size. The Strangford shield is an exception. No doubt other statues had decorated shields, but we know nothing about them, nor have we any evidence that the round form was used for large pictures. We are concerned with circles seldom more than a foot, and sometimes as little as a quarter of an inch, in diameter, with cups and plates, mirrors and coins. Nevertheless, in spite of their small size, and the consequent restriction of the composition to a small number of figures, these works are often of the first quality, and always reflect the style and ideas of their period.

The geometric style gave Greek artists certain principles which they never entirely forgot, although they adhered to them more strictly at some times than at others. These principles are definition and symmetry. On Geometric vases, scene is marked off from scene and part from part; transitions are never slurred, and the defining lines are clearly drawn. The great structures and the minor parts within them are held together by the echoing of motives and figures, symmetrically balanced. Other features of the geometric style are less long-lived, the filling ornament, the angularity of the figures and the refusal to represent depth; yet they are not finally and completely abandoned until the sixth century or even later.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 59 , Issue 1 , 1939 , pp. 103 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1939

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References

1 JHS 1933, 295Google Scholar.

2 Cf. Melian dish, Pfuhl, MuZ, fig. 107; seventh century, the lower quarter filled by two symmetrical stags with interlacing horns.

3 Inv. 3724.

4 Hill, A Guide to the Principal Coins of the Greeks, pl. i, B, 39; cf. Pfuhl, fig. 122 (Rhodian plate).

5 E.g. Hill, i, A, 10 (Phocaea), i, B 47 (Siphnos), 37 (Aegina); cf. Buschor, Greek Vase-painting, fig. 60 (Rhodian plate).

6 Pfuhl, fig. 117.

7 See Kunze, Kretische Bronzeschilder.

8 Kunze, no. 4, pl. 6. The Assyrian group (e.g., no. 74, Winter, K.i.B., 101, 4) are more elaborately composed with emphasis on the vertical diameter and on horizontals and diagonals.

9 E.g. Pfuhl, fig. 462 (early fifth century).

10 Inv. 3404; cf. Boar hunt, BSA, xxxvGoogle Scholar, pl. 41a.

11 E.g., in Corinthian cups, ‘Siana’ cups, ‘Little Master’ cups.

12 Cat. 452.

13 Inv. 3917, cf. Pfuhl, figs. 359, 413 (ripe archaic).

14 Cf. Metr. Mus. Studies, v, 103Google Scholar (Siana cup); JHS 1932, pl. vi, 1 (Little Master Cup).

15 Iliffe, p. 276; Metr. Mus. Studies, v. 93Google Scholar, no. 18.

16 E.g. JHS 1932, 177Google Scholar, fig. 9, pl. vi, 2; cf. Corinthian, CVA Copenhagen, pl. 92, 5; coins, Seltman, Greek Coins, pl. vi, 16 (Thrace); Hill, 1, A 26 (Cyzicus).

17 Beazley, Attic B.f., pl. 5, 1; cf. Corinthian, Payne, NC, nos. 995, 1047, 1054; Laconian, Pfuhl, fig. 196; Thracian coin, Hill, 1, B 5.

18 E.g., Metr. Mus. Studies, v, 105Google Scholar; cf. also for composition Little Master cups, CVA Cambridge, pl. xx, 3; Beazley, Attic B.f., pl. 5, 2.

19 Between them as a design the Ionian cup, AM, 1934, pl. viii, 1, which is composed on verticals and horizontals alone; cf. Laconian, Pfuhl, fig. 194; Coin of Potidaea, Hill, i, B, 9.

20 E.g., CVA Cambridge, pl. xx, 1; cf. BSR, 1929, pl. III, 6.

21 Exekias, Pfuhl, fig. 231; Laconian, Pfuhl, fig. 193.

22 Notice that the ship's side is removed and we see the ship in section; cf. the representations of cauldrons and tripods in section on geometric vases, e.g., fig. 1; AJA, 1915, pl. xviii; AM, 1892, pl. x; and, later, Pfuhl, figs. 346 (Nicosthenes ptr.), 467 (Duris).

23 Essentially, the composition (division into three zones and emphasis on the vertical diameter) is the same in Gorgoneia on shields (Pfuhl, figs. 175, 226); cups (Payne, NC, figs. 25A–B, 45B–C); and coins (Hill, 1, B, 26, Athens).

24 Munich 2648.

25 Cf. Pfuhl, fig. 467 (Duris).

26 Cf. the later cup, Berlin Führer, pl. 65 (Aristophanes).

27 Pfuhl, fig. 398; cf. figs. 426 (Brygos ptr.), 461, 470 (Duris); Langlotz, Gr. Vasenmaler, fig. 16 (Makron).

28 E.g., Langlotz. op. cit., fig. 3 (Epictetus); Beazley, V.A., fig. 5 (Cerberus ptr.); Pfuhl, fig. 463 (Duris); New York Handbook, 119 (Duris); Schaal, Griechische Vasen, pl. 34 (Briseis ptr.).

29 Pfuhl, fig. 418.

30 Pfuhl, fig. 421.

31 E.g., New York, Handbook, 175.

32 Pfuhl, fig. 462; cf. 275 (Menon ptr.), 452, 457 (Duris); Langlotz, Vasen in Würzburg, pl. 137 (Epictetus); Gr. Vasenbilder, fig. 28 (Skythes); Beazley, Panmaler, pl. 9, 5; CVA Oxford, pl. ii, 8 (Antiphon ptr.); Regling, Antike Münzen, fig. 248 (coin of Sergention).

33 Pfuhl, fig. 417; cf. 329 (Epictetus), 338 (Skythes), 349 (Nicosthenes ptr.).

34 Developments of this scheme for single figures; cups, CVA Oxford, pl. i, 2; BSR, 1929, pl. 5, 1 (Oltos); Beazley, VA, fig. 15 (Euthymides); Pfuhl, fig. 408 (Panaitios ptr.); Regling, fig. 205 (coin of Thasos).

35 Pfuhl, fig. 466.

36 Cf. Beazley, VA, fig. 9 (Epictetus); Pfuhl, figs. 400 (Panaitios ptr.), 424 (signed by Brygos as potter).

37 E.g., Pfuhl, figs. 358–9 (Oltos); Berlin Führer pl. 37 (Menon ptr.); Pfuhl, fig. 411 (Panaitios ptr.), 428, 432; Beazley, VA, fig. 64 (Brygos ptr.); Pottier, Duris, fig. 24 (Duris); New York, Handbook, 116; Pfuhl, figs. 439, 440, 442 (Makron); coins, Hill, i, C, 5 (Tarentum); 9 (Posidonia); 13 (Caulonia).

38 Cf. CVA Oxford, pl. ii, 4 (Makron); Langlotz, Griechische Vasenbilder, fig. 34 (Brygos ptr.); Beazley, VP, pl. viii, 1 (Panaitios ptr.). Hexagon composition; coin from Thasos, Hill, i, B, 4; cf. Pfuhl, figs. 412 (near Panaitios ptr.), 458 (Duris).

39 Cf. men with animals, Pfuhl, fig. 391 (Euphronius); Schaal, Bilderhefte, fig. 14; coins, Hill, i, A, 30 (Erythrae), i, B, 14, 15 (Thrace).

40 I am indebted to Dr. Hans Diepolder for the reference to Dohan, E., Philadelphia Museum Journal, xxiii, 1, 40Google Scholar.

41 Langlotz, op. cit., fig. 5.

42 E.g., Schaal, Gr. Vasen, pl. 29 (Euergides ptr.).

43 So, too, in the two-figure scenes by the Panaitios ptr., Pfuhl, fig. 405; Langlotz, op. cit., fig. 11; Schaal, Bilderhefte, fig. 20.

44 Pfuhl, fig. 413; cf. Langlotz, Gr. Vasen in Würzburg, pl. 153, nos. 476, 477; CVA Oxford, pl. i, 8 (Colmar ptr.); CVA Cambridge, pl. xxv, 1 (Skythes).

45 1848; cf. Pfuhl, fig. 407 (Panaitios ptr.); Pottier Duris, fig. 21 (Duris); CVA Oxford, pl. li, 6 (Apollodorus); Langlotz, op. cit., pl. 153, No. 485 (Antiphon ptr.).

46 See Technau, RM, 1931, pls. 17–21.

47 Historisches Museum.

48 Not quite thought out, cf. the ground in Duris' Heracles and Athena, above p. 109.

49 Cf. Regling, figs. 291, 292, 296 (Cyzicus).

50 Pfuhl, fig. 501; cf. figs. 502 (Penthesilea ptr.); 449 (Telephos ptr.); CVA Oxford, pl. lii, 3 (Euaeon ptr.); chariot group on Syracusan coin, Hill, II, C. 54.

51 E.g., Pfuhl, figs. 446 (Telephos ptr.), 499 (Pistoxenus ptr.); Beazley and Ashmole, Greek Sculpture and Painting, fig. 80 (Akestorides ptr.); coins, Regling, figs. 364 (Tarentum), 348, 350 (Macedonia).

52 Hill, 11, C, 48. See Ashmole, , JHS, 1938, p. 242Google Scholar, pl. XXI.

53 Pfuhl, fig. 414.

54 Hill, i, C, 26.

55 Cf. Dionysus, Pfuhl, fig. 426 (Brygos ptr.).

56 E.g., Payne, NC, nos. 951, 944, 993, 995a, 998; cf. coins, Hill, i, A, 35 (Calymna); i, B, 31 (Athens).

57 E.g., Hill, ii, A, 23 (Mytilene), ii, B, 2 (Aenus), ii, C, 54, 55 (Syracuse).

58 Regling, fig. 366; cf. Hill, ii, C, 42 (Himera), 52 (Selinus); Beazley, VA, fig. 82 (Penthesilea ptr.); CVA Oxford, pl. iii, 9.

59 E.g., Pfuhl, fig. 525; CVA Oxford, pl. ii, 3; coins, Hill, ii, C, 21; Regling, fig. 376 (Terina).

60 Hill, ii, C, 53; cf. ii, C, 41 (Himera).

61 Langlotz, Gr. Vasenbilder, fig. 52; cf. Beazley, VP, pl. 8, 3 (Telephos ptr.); Schaal, Gr. Vasen, pl. 38 (Euaeon ptr.); Pfuhl, fig. 527 (Sotades ptr.); CVA Oxford, pl. iii, 4 (Penthesilea ptr.).

62 Berlin Führer, pl. 65; cf. Beazley, VP, pl. 29, 2; BSR, xi, 1929Google Scholar, pl. xi, 2 (Eretria ptr.); Pfuhl, fig. 620 (bronze mirror).

63 Emphasis on vertical diameter as principle of composition for single figures (sometimes in new poses); CVA Oxford, pl. iii, 7; coins, Hill, ii, C. 19 (Pandosia); ii, C, 51 (Segesta); Regling, fig. 529 (Terina), 570 (Selinus).

64 Cat. 491; cf. RM 1931, 122 (silver cup).

65 Hill, ii, C, 49.

66 Cf. Regling, figs. 560 (Zancle); 471 (Larissa); Hill, ii, B, 44 (Olympia); mirror, BCH, 1900, pl. i b; cups, Pfuhl, figs. 586 (Aristophanes), 573 (Codrus ptr.), 576 (Aison).

67 JdI 1930, pl. 9; cf. Hill, ii, C, 13 (coin of Thurii); cup, Langlotz, Gr. Vasen in Würzburg, pl. 162.

68 Regling, fig. 531.

69 Cf. above, n. 23.

70 E.g., Regling, fig. 80 (island coin); Hill, i, A, 23 (Cyzicus).

71 E.g., Regling, figs. 547 (Catana), 501 (Aenus); Lamb, Greek Bronzes, pl. lxviii a (bronze mirror); cf. lion's scalp, Hill, ii, A, 29 (Samos), iii, C, 24 (Rhegium).

72 Cf. Hill, ii, C, 68, 69 (Syracuse); Lamb, Greek Bronzes, pl. lxviii b (bronze mirror).

73 Cf. above, n. 56. Cf. also now, Hill, ii, C, 13 (Thurii), 66, 67 (Syracuse). The principle of composition is applied to other subjects: Hill, ii, B, 14–16 (Mende), ii, C, 23 (Terina), ii, C, 18 (Croton); BCH 1900, pl. i a (bronze mirror).

74 Regling, fig. 647; cf. Hill, iii, B, 29 (Opus); plate from Ceglie in Berlin, Führer, pl. 79; mirror in London, Cat. pl. xxxii.

75 Cf. mirrors, Pfuhl, figs. 621, 625.

76 Pfuhl, fig. 622; cf. Lamb, Greek Bronzes, pl. lxix a; coins, Regling, figs. 684 (Ambracia), 686 (Dyrrhachium); Hill, iii, B, 49 (Pheneus).

77 Hill, iii, B, 48; cf. iii, C, 11, 12 (Heraclea), iv, B, 23 (Crete); normal band composition, mirrors, Berlin, Führer, pl. 42; AA 1935, 367, 370; Mon. Piot. 1897, 78Google Scholar; coins, Hill, iii, A, 27 (Lampsacus), iii, A, 35 (Ephesus). Coin of Zancle, see above n. 66.

78 Hill, iii, B, 50; cf. for composition along a diameter, mirrors, Bronzes antiques du Louvre, fig. 29; Lamb, op. cit., pl. lxviii c; Berlin, Führer, pl. 43.

79 Pfuhl, fig. 623; cf. for heraldic composition, 624; New York, Handbook, 175; Bronzes antiques du Louvre, figs. 30, 32.

80 I should like to express my gratitude to the authorities for permission to publish photographs of works in the British Museum, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Sofia, Vienna, and Würzburg.