Menu
Search
Main SiteGandhara ConnectionsVase Corpus (CVA Online)
Search

220497, ATHENIAN, London, British Museum, London, British Museum, London, British Museum, 1772,0320.30

  • Vase Number: 220497
  • Fabric: ATHENIAN
  • Technique: RED-FIGURE
  • Shape Name: HYDRIA
  • Date: -450 to -400
  • Inscriptions: Named: CHRYSOTHEMIS, ASTEROPE, LIPARA, HYGIEIA, KLYTIOS
    Named: CHRYSOTHEMIS, ASTEROPE, LIPARA, HYGIEIA, KLYTIOS, ELERA, ARNIOPE
    Named: ELERA, CHRYSIPPOS, PEITHO, AGAUE, CHRYSEIS
    Signature: MEIDIAS EPOIESEN
  • Attributed To: MEIDIAS P by BEAZLEY
    MEIDIAS by SIGNATURE
  • Decoration: Body 1: RAPE OF LEUKIPPIDS, CHARIOTS, IN ONE POLYDEUKES AND WOMAN (NAMED) IN ONE CHARIOTEER (NAMED), KASTOR AND ERIPHYLE, APHRODITE SEATED AT ALTAR, STATUE OF GODDESS, WOMEN, ONE FLEEING (NAMED), ZEUS SEATED WITH SCEPTRE
    Body 2: HERAKLES (BEARDLESS) SEATED IN THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES (NAMED), ONE PICKING APPLES, WOMAN WITH SCEPTRE AND YOUTH IN CHLAMYS WITH SPEARS (NAMED), IOLAOS, TREE WITH SNAKE, AKAMAS, HIPPOTHOON, ANTIOCHOS, SEATED WITH SCEPTRE, PHILOKTETES, DEMOPHON, OINEUS, MEDEA IN PATTERNED SUIT AND PERSIAN CAP WITH BOX, WOMEN (NAMED)
  • Last Recorded Collection: London, British Museum: 1772.3-20.30
  • Previous Collections:
  • Publication Record: American Journal of Archaeology: 69 (1965) PL.74, FIG.9 (PART OF BD1)
    Arafat, K., Classical Zeus, A Study in Art and Literature (Oxford, 1990): 151, FIG.8 (DRAWING)
    Beazley, J.D., Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, 2nd edition (Oxford, 1963): 1313.5, 1690
    Beazley, J.D., Attische Vasenmaler des rotfigurigen Stils (Tübingen, 1925): 459.1
    Beazley, J.D., Paralipomena (Oxford, 1971): 477
    Berti, F. and Guzzo, P.G. (eds.), Spina, Storia di una citta tra Greci ed Etruschi (Ferrara, 1993): 56, FIG.46 (PART OF BD2)
    Boardman, J. (ed.), La ceramica antica (Milan, 1984): 224
    Boardman, J. with Charleston, R.J., Cook, R.M., and Hennessy, J.B., Die Keramik der Antike, Mesopotamien, Agypten, Griechenland, Italien (Freiburg, Basel, and Wien, 1985): 224 (COLOUR OF BD)
    Boardman, J., Athenian Red Figure Vases, The Classical Period (London, 1989): 146, NO.3, FIG.287
    Boardman, J., The history of Greek vases, potters, painters and pictures (London, 2001): 99, FIG.134 (DRAWING)
    Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique: 138.1 (2014) 440, FIG.11 (PART OF BD1)
    Burn, L., The Meidias Painter (Oxford, 1987): PLS.1A, 2B-C, 3, 4B, 5-9
    Cain, H-U. et al., Faszination der Linie, Griechische Zeichenkunst auf dem Weg von Neapel nach Europa. Sonderausstellung in Zusammenarbeit mit der Universitätsbibliothek Bibliotheca Albertina Leipzig 21. Oktober 2004 bis 29. Januar 2005 (Leipzig, 2004): FIGS.10-11 (COLOUR DRAWINGS OF BD1)
    Carpenter, T.H., Art and Myth in Ancient Greece (London, 1991): FIG.213 (PART)
    Carpenter, T.H., with Mannack, T. and Mendonca, M., Beazley Addenda, 2nd edition (Oxford, 1989): 361
    Caygill, M., The British Museum, 250 Years (London, 2003): 10, FIGS.1, 3 (COLOUR OF BD1 AND BD2, COLOUR DRAWING OF PART)
    Clark, A.J. and Gaunt, J. (eds.), Essays in Honor of Dietrich von Bothmer, Allard Pierson Series 14 (Amsterdam, 2002): PL.35C (PART OF BD2)
    Cohen, A., Art in the Era of Alexander the Great, Paradigms of Manhood and their Cultural Traditions (Cambridge, 2010): 221, FIG.104 (DRAWING OF BD1 AND PART OF BD2)
    Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: LONDON, BRITISH MUSEUM 6, III.I.C.6, PLS.(366,367) 91.1A-D,92.1A-B View Whole CVA Plates
    Coulson, W.D.E. et al. (eds.), The Archaeology of Athens and Attica under the Democracy (Oxford, 1994): 106-107, FIGS.2-3 (PARTS)
    Dietrich, N., Figur ohne Raum? Bäume und Felsen in der attischen Vasenmalerei des 6. und 5. Jahrhunderts v. Chr., Image & Context 7 (Berlin, 2010): 260, FIG.211 (REICHHOLD DRAWING)
    Ducati, P., I vasi dipinti nello stile del ceramista Midia (Rome, 1909): 97, PL.1
    Furtwängler, A. and Reichhold, K., Griechische Vasenmalerei (Munich, 1904-32): PLS.8-9
    Hoppin, A., A handbook of Attic red-figured vases signed by or attributed to the various masters of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. (Cambridge, 1919): II, 179, 181
    International Congress of Classical Archaeology, 12, Athens, 1983. Praktika, 2-3 Tou XII Diethnous Synedriou Klasikes Archaiologias, Athena, 4-10 Sep: VOL.B, PL.23.1 (PART)
    Jenkins, I., and Sloan, K., Vases & Volcanoes, Sir William Hamilton and his Collection (London, 1996): 181, NO.55 (COLOUR OF PART)
    Kampen, N.B. (ed.), Sexuality in Ancient Art, Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Italy (Cambridge, 1996): 124, FIG.50 (DRAWING)
    Kéi, N., L'esthétique des fleurs, kosmos, poikilia et kharis dans la céramique attique du VIe et du Ve siècle av. n. ère, ICON 22 (Berlin and Boston, 2022): 68, FIG.51 (BD)
    Lang-Auinger, C. and Trinkl, E. (eds.), Phyta kai Zoia. Pflanzen und Tiere auf griechischen Vasen, Beihefte zum Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Österreich, Band 2 (Vienna, 2015): 149, FIG.3 (COLOUR OF BD)
    Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae: V, PL.105, HERAKLES 2717 (BD2)
    Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae: V, PL.380, HYGIEIA 1 (BD2)
    Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae: VI, PL.202, MEDEIA 70 (UH)
    Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae: VII, PL.178, PEITHO 7 (PARTS OF BD1)
    Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae: VIII, PL.610, OINEUS II 3 (PART OF BD2)
    Mannack, T., Griechische Vasenmalerei, Eine Einführung, 2nd edition (Darmstadt, 2012): 155, FIG.102 (PARTS OF BD1 AND BD2)
    Marburger Winckelmann-Programm: (2014) 86, FIG.24 (DRAWING)
    Martina, A. and Cozzoli, A-T. (eds.), La tragedia greca, Testimonianze archeologiche e iconografiche, Atti del Convegno, Roma, 14-16 ottobre 2004 (Rome, 2009): FIG.4 AT PAGES 259-317 (PART OF BD2)
    Morais, R., Centeno, R., and Freitas Ferreira, D. (eds.), Myths, Gods and Heroes. Greek Vases in Portugal – Mitos, Deuses e Heróis. Vasos Gregos em Portugal (Porto, 2022): II, 212, FIG.3 (DRAWING)
    Morard, T., Horizontalite et Verticalite, Le bandeau humain et le bandeau divin chez le Peintre de Darius (Mainz, 2009): PL.81,1 (DRAWING OF BD1 AND PART OF BD2)
    Nicole, G., Meidias et le style fleuri (Geneva, 1908): 57, PLS.1, 2 TOP
    Oakley, J.H. and Palagia, O. (eds.), Athenian Potters and Painters, Volume II (Oxford, 2010): 292, 295, FIGS.4, 9 (PARTS OF BD1 AND BD2)
    Papanastasiou, A., Relations Between Redfigured and Black-glazed Vases in Athens of the 4th Century B.C., BAR International Series 1297 (Oxford, 2004): PL.71.1 (PART)
    Pedley, J.G., Greek Art and Archaeology (New Jersey, 1993): 270, FIG.8.48 (COLOUR)
    Pedley, J.G., Greek Art and Archaeology. Fifth Edition (London, 2011): 284, FIG.8.53 (COLOUR OF PART OF BD)
    Pfuhl, E., Malerei und Zeichnung der Griechen (Munich, 1923): FIG.593 (A)
    Reeder, E.D. et al., Pandora, Women in Classical Greece (Baltimore, 1995): 79-80, FIGS.5-6 (DRAWING, PART OF BD1)
    Richlin, A. (ed.), Pornography and Representation in Greece and Rome (Oxford, 1992): 31, FIG.1.12 (DRAWING)
    Rodriguez Perez, D., Serpientes, dioses y heroes. El combate contra el monstruo en el arte y la literatura griega antigua (Leon, 2008): 118, FIG.47 (PART OF BD)
    Sanchez-Fernandez, C. et al. (eds.), Dioses, heroes y atletas. La imagen del cuerpo en la Grecia antigua (Madrid, 2015): 102-103 (COLOUR OF PART OF BD1)
    Schefold, K. and Jung, F., Die Urkönige, Perseus, Bellerophon, Herakles und Theseus in der klassischen und hellenistischen Kunst (Munich, 1988): 31, FIG.19
    Schmidt, S. and Steinhart, M. (eds.), Sammeln und Erforschen, Griechische Vasen in neuzeitlichen Sammlungen, Beihefte zum Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Band VI (Munich, 2014): 54, FIG.5 (PART OF BD1 AND BD2)
    Shapiro, H.A., Personifications in Greek Art, The Representation of Abstract Concepts 600-400 BC (Zurich, 1993): 127, 207, FIGS.79, 168 (PARTS)
    Smith, A.C., Polis and Personification in Classical Athenian Art (Leiden, 2011): FIG.1 (PARTS, DRAWING OF BD1 AND PARTS OF BD2)
    Sparkes, B.A., The Red and the Black (London, 1996): 52, FIG.II.13 (PART)
    Stewart, A., Art, Desire, and the Body in Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 1997): 175, FIG.112 (PART OF BD1)
    Tiverios, M.A., Elliniki techni, archaia angaia (Athens, 1996): 192-193, FIGS.175-176 (COLOUR OF PART AND PART OF BD1)
    Vollkommer, R., Herakles in the Art of Classical Greece (Oxford, 1988): 19, FIG.26 (BD2)
    Weissert, C., Reproduktionsstichwerke, Vermittlung alter und neuer Kunst im 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1999): FIGS.67, 68.1 (PART, DRAWING OF SH)
    Whitley, J., The Archaeology of Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 2001): 24, FIG.2.2 (PART)
    Woodford, S., An Introduction to Greek Art. Sculpture and Vase Painting in the Archaic and Classical Periods. 2nd edition (London, 2015): 144-145, FIGS.214-216 (BD, PARTS OF BD)
    d'Hancarville, H., Antiquites Etrusques, Grecques et Romaines, tirees du Cabinet de M. William Hamilton (Naples, 1766-7): I, PLS.127-30, II, PL.22
    de Cesare, M., Le statue in immagine, Studi sulle raffigurazioni di statue nella pittura vascolare greca (Rome, 1997): 128, FIG.67 (PART OF BD1)
  • AVI Web: https://www.avi.unibas.ch/DB/searchform.html?ID=4703
  • AVI Record Number: 4531
  • LIMC ID: 3469
  • LIMC Web: http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73d4a7098be00-c
  • British Museum Link: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1772-0320-30-
  • CAVI Collection: London E 224.
  • CAVI Lemma: RF hydria. Meidias Painter. Last quarter fifth. 410-400.
  • CAVI Subject: Upper row: Rape of the Leucippidae by Castor and Pollux: the rape victim of Pollux is Elera (see below; perhaps for the usual Hilaeira). Castor's rape victim is Eriphyle (usually Phoibe). Chrysippos is Castor's charioteer. Burn 26 thinks the archaic statue (not named) is Aphrodite. Lower row: Heracles in the Garden of the Hesperides [once interpreted as the Argonauts' visit to the Hesperides, FR i, 43; Walters in CVA; this made Medea more explicable]: 7 figures around the apple tree guarded by a serpent: Chrysothemis picks apples. Asterope leans on her shoulder. Lipara holds out apples. Heracles, seated, looks toward her. Iolaus. Klytios points at the tree. Hygieia is with him. - Opposite this group are: in the center, three Attic heroes: Akamas, Hippothoon, Antiochos. At left, Philoctetes talks to Akamas. At right, Klymenos. - To right of this group: Oineus, Demophon, with the Hesperid Chryseis. -Medea with a small casket, Elera and Arniope.
  • CAVI Inscriptions: On the shoulder: Μειδιας :* εποιησεν. Upper zone: Πολυδευκ{τ}ης{1}. Ελερα{2}. Κασστωρ. Εριφυλη. Χρυσιππος. Ζευς. Αγαυη. Χρυσεις. Αφροδιτη{3}. Πειθω. Lower zone: Κλυτιος{4}. Υγιεα.(4a). Ασστεροπη. Χρυσοθεμις{5}. Λιπαρα. Ηρακλης. Ιολεως. - Ελ̣ερα. Μηδεα.(4a). Αρνιοπη. Φιλοκτητης. Ακαμ[ας]{6}. Ιππο(θ)ων, for Ιπποθοων{7}. Αν[τι]οχος. Κλυμενος. Οιν[ε]υς. Δημοφων. Χρυσις (girl). - Horse brands: Χ of upright shape (+).
  • CAVI Footnotes: {1} sigma written above eta for lack of space. {2} given with Attic lambda in CVA, with Ionic in BM Cat. (So also for other inscriptions). Kretschmer 208 explains it as Ιλαειρα, a known name of a daughter of Leucippus. {3} the last letter written above; cf. n. 2. {4} BM Cat.gives three-stroke sigma. {4} a for -εα (with short e), see Threatte (1980). {5} BM Cat.: the first sigma four-stroke, the second three-stroke. {6} so FR. Not Aietes or Atlas as read before C. Smith established the right reading. {7} but there is space between two lances for a letter after the theta.
  • CAVI Comments: Burn gives the early history of the vase (Hamilton). The readings are a combination of BM Cat., CVA and FR. The inscriptions are said to be very hard to read. - For the mythology see FR and Burn: this is a an Attic garden paradise, whence the Attic heroes (tribal plus Demophon). Burn 22-23: notes the erratic use of names: Elera is found in both scenes. Note also the rape victim's names in the upper row. Agave is elsewhere Pentheus' mother. Philoctetes seems out of place, but Burn 23ff. speculates on the significance of Medea in her Oriental costume. - The Dioscuri in the rape scene show a pro-Spartan attitude by the painter; but the Hesperid scene is pro-Athens. Both scenes are suitable for a tomb: rape is death; the Hesperid garden is = the Isle of the Blessed. - The alphabet is Ionic, with some three-stroke sigmas.
  • CAVI Number: 4531
  • AVI Bibliography: CIG 4 (1855–77), no. 4.8487. — C.H. Smith (1893), 192 f. — Kretschmer (1894), 116, 140, 143, 145, 208. — C.H. Smith in BM Cat. E (1896), 173. — FR (1904–32), i, 38-46, pls. 8-9 (drs.). — H.B. Walters, CVA London 6, Great Britain 8 (1931), III I c, pl. 91,a-d. — ARV[2] (1963), 1313/5 (much bibl.), 1690. — Para. (1971), 477. — Threatte (1980), 321. — Burn (1987), ch, 2 (15-25), 97/M 5, pls. 1-9 (pl. 3 is after FR i, pl. 8). — Add.[2] (1989), 361 (much bibl.). — Boardman (1989), fig. 287. — AttScr (1990), no. 805. — LIMC v (1990), 104, Herakles 2717 (with earlier LIMC reff.). — Robertson (1992), 237-39. — Shapiro (1993), 245/63, 127, fig. 79, 207, fig. 168.
  • CAVI / AVI Data from Henry Immerwahr's Corpus of Attic Vase Inscriptions (CAVI), updated by Rudoph Wachter's Attic Vase Inscriptions (AVI)
  • Image Credits: FURTWANGLER-REICHHOLD DRAWINGS: Please consult with Williams College Special Collections staff and Williams College Visual Resources Center staff, regarding questions about publishing and accessing materials from Williams College Special Collections. Researchers are responsible for handling any copyright issues that may be associated with collections and materials.
Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

Link to this record using the address https://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/AD0246AA-33A2-4559-BF1F-60A742C707EA

My photograph albums
Site map Copyright Accessibility Privacy statement Contact us
Gandhara Connections
Gandhara Connections on Facebook
Gandhara Connections on Twitter
Back to top