- Museum number
- 1837,0609.71
- Description
-
Pottery: red-figured amphora type B.
(a) Menelaos pursuing Helen and startled by her beauty. Menelaos, a bearded warrior in helmet, short chiton, and cuirass, and carrying shield (seen in foreshortening) on left arm, drops his sword from his right hand, as, pursuing Helen to right, he recognises her. She turns as she flies, looking at him and raising her right hand in surprise; with her left she lifts the edge of her skirt; and on the left a woman flees to left, looking back, and raising both hands in surprise. Both women wear long chiton, himation, and earrings; Helen has long hair with radiated stephane; the hair of the other is looped up with a fillet. The cuirass of Menelaos has a four-rayed star on each shoulder-piece and on the breast one of sixteen rays; the centre of the body is ornamented with scale pattern, the sides with brick pattern; his helmet is decorated with tendrils and has raised cheek-pieces; both it and the foot of the left figure project over the border.
(b) Three Maenads. The central figure holds in her left a thyrsos, and with her right a phiale to be filled from the oinochoe (silhouette against her drapery) of the one on left; this figure holds in her left an ivy-branch. The right hand figure also holds an ivy-branch, and is closely draped. All three wear long chiton and himation, and have hair looped up with a fillet; the central one has earrings.
Later stage of severe style; the forms elongated. Purple fillets, rays, sword-belt, branches and berries of ivy in border. Brown inner markings. Eye in transition type (pupil a dotted circle): folds of drapery arranged in symmetrical groups. The design is enclosed on each side in a panel as follows: below, key pattern: above, ivy wreath: on each side, net pattern; all except the wreath are black on red. At the bottom of the body, rays, black on red. Below the design and round the neck, purple lines.
Inside the mouth of this vase, incised characters.
- Production date
- 470BC-450BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 55.20 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- BM Cat. Vases
Gerhard, A. V. iii, pl. 169, 3, 4, p. 55, describes it as ‘in the Vatican’; Panofka, Griechinnen und Griechen, pl. i, 23, p. 26; Heydemann, Iliupersis, p. 30, note 5 Β; Mus. Greg, ii, 9, 2; Overbeck, Her. Bildw. pl. xxvi, 4, p. 630.
For the incised characters, see Old Catalogue pl. Β807.
- Location
- On display (G20a/dc6)
- Acquisition date
- 1837
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1837,0609.71