country.1 Those familiar with the pres- ent "market" and aware of the difficulties of acquiring good Greek vases will appreci-

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1 yellow trousers; the other representing two figures, possibly a tutor with a young prince Another Indian miniature painted in sepia and touched with a few colors shows a religious scene with men and a woman before a holy shrine The last miniature to be noted is a Turkish painting of about the middle of country1 Those familiar with the pres- ent "market" and aware of the difficulties of acquiring good Greek vases will appreci- FIG 2 BELL KRATER WITH LUG HANDLES L If It' ate the high quality of most of our new specimens and realize what selection these purchases imply It is indeed an excep- tional group A few belong in the first rank as artistic achievements, both for FIG I LEKYTHOS EOS AND MEMNON the sixteenth century, characteristic not only in the costumes but also in its realistic drawing and vigorous colors, unlike those in the Persian miniatures M S DIMAND ATHENIAN RED-FIGURED VASES We are showing in the Room of Recent Accessions this month forty-two red-figured vases which have been acquired within recent years and lately shipped to this 128 FIG 3 VASE IN THE FORM OF A WOMAN'S HEAD their form and for their decoration Several can be attributed to well-known artists There are a number of rare and interesting subjects represented; and some specimens are noteworthy for technical points So O1ne was purchased in New York-the hydria with the scene of Herakles strangling the ser- pents The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin wwwjstororg

2 that almost every piece can be studied with profit and enjoyment Perhaps the most important example is a large kylix with two women putting away their clothes, as the interior picture (fig 4), and women and youths on the outside2 It can be attributed to the famous vase painter Douris, as one of his later products, and is our first specimen of this artist's Dionysos and Satyr on our krater (No I672) We must imagine the pursuing Zeus perhaps painted on a companion jug On another oinochoe is a youth playing the lyre and a long-legged boy listening to him This too is the work of one of Athens's foremost painters-the "Berlin amphora painter," so called after his most important work, the large amphora with Hermes and work The interior scene especially has a certain grandeur and statuesque quality that pertain to great works of art On a small kylix is an exquisite painting of a boy playing the lyre (fig io), it would seem by a follower of Douris We possess few pictures of such grace and feeling expressed by means so simple On an oinochoe is represented Ganymede running at full speed with his hoop and cock, in the engaging style of the "Pan painter," who produced the great picture of Artemis and Aktaion on the Boston krater and the FIG 4 KYLI) K BY DOURIS TWO WOMEN PUTTIb KG AWAY CLOTHES 2This and the other "attributed" vases will be published shortly in the American Journal of Archaeology The attributions have been made by J D Beazley of Oxford, who has put this branch of the study of Greek vase painting on entirely new foundations 129 a Satyr in the Berlin Museum A'fragment of a kylix has a stooping man, painted in the finished, lively manner of the "Brygos painter," the artist of the vases signed by Brygos as potter These five pieces represent the high water mark of Athenian vase painting during the best period of that art-the first quarter of the fifth century B C Besides these conspicuously fine pieces there are others, only slightly less fine in quality, attributable to well-known painters A skyphos with a Satyr and a Maenad on each side is the work of a highly individual artist-the "Penthesilea painter" Though rather careless in drawing it is an extraordinarily spirited rendering of the wild, lawless life of the woods A sturdy oinochoe has a scene of a woman seated

3 between two men attributed to the Orchard painter, so called after the orchard scene on one of our kraters (No ) A hydria is decorated with a dramatic representation of the baby Herakles strangling the serpents to the amazement of his family (fig 6) It is attributed to the are clearly in the manner of the Brygos painter, though not quite fine enough to be by the master himself Among the specially interesting subjects we may mention Orpheus among the Thracians, represented on a well-preserved bell krater (fig 7) The great singer is seated FIG 5 VASE IN THE FORM OF A LOBSTER CLAW Nausikaa painter who decorated the amphora in Munich with Odysseus and Nausikaa, and who, though rather neglectful of detail, is always able to give psychological interest to his pictures Our new vase has long been known ^ as the Castellani hy- ^ dria and was consid- * A ered lost for some : ~ time until it turned up at an auction in New York A fragmentary kylix with a youth standing before an altar is attributed to FIG 6 E Apollodoros; a large HERAKLES STRANG kylix, also unfortunately in wretched condition, has pictures of Herakles with the Nemean lion and of a boy on horseback, perhaps by Oltos And a small lekythos has a representation of Herakles, Nike, and attendant figures in the flowing style of Meidias, the great master of delicate drawing Three are school pictures: a running woman on a lekythos belongs to the school of the Berlin amphora painter; while a girl playing the double flutes on a lekythos and a young reveller on a kylix on a rock playing his lyre, evidently lost in his music, while a Thracian man and woman stand before him The latter are not carried away by his lovely strains as in Orpheus am L ING THE SERPENTS the great Orpheus picture in Berlin; but appear to be in lively conversation, he ges- ticulating, she a Tai in curved knife in her A r ahand The man wears,, lat the typical Thracian costume-a fox-skin cap and a large, gaily T decorated mantle YDRIA One of Aeschylus's lost plays (the Bassarides) dealt with Orpheus among the Thracians, and a chorus of these barbarians with vividly colored garments was probably a significant I30 feature Those who remember the Granville Barker production of Iphigeneia in Tauris in the New York Stadium can visualize how effective such a group would be A rare subject appears on a small hydria of late style-viz, Poseidon, mounted on a sea horse, welcoming his son Theseus (fig 8) Theseus, his divine

4 origin challenged, descended to the bottom of the sea to prove it His meeting with Amphitrite on this occasion is represented on the famous Euphronios cup in the Louvre There are only two or three vases known showing his encounter with his father Poseidon,3 so that the representation on our new hydria assumes importance On a late hydria is represented Herakles in the garden of the Hesperides The tree of the golden apples with the guarding serpent appears in the centre; by its side stands the hero, his bow and arrows laid aside to show that he is on a friendly wine-god were prominent features4? On an early lekythos is a beautiful picture of Eos, the goddess of dawn, flying away with the body of her son Memnon, who lies ^-i yil FIG 8 SMALL HYDRIA POSEIDON THESEUS WELCOMING stiff and helpless in her arms (fig I) Instead of the usual black-figured or redfigured technique in vogue in Athens a new method is here used, probably as an experiment, viz, the figures are partly incised, FIG 7 BELL KRATER ORPHEUS AMONG THE THRACIANS 11_ errand; the nymphs look surprised at his intrusion, but that his request will be granted is indicated by the little Victory flying to him with a wreath On a late lekythos is a charming picture of Eros playing the tambourine, with a dainty lady dancing gracefully to his music Perhaps most interesting of all is a little toy oinochoe, beautifully preserved, decorated with what appears to be a representation of children at a Dionysiac festival (fig 9) Three are carrying a tall stand with hanging fillets while others are engaged with a cart in which an image of Dionysos is seated in a chair Is this a picture of children acting out the ceremonies they have seen at a Dionysiac festival in which a maypole and the yearly return of the 3Cf A H Smith, Journal of Hellenic Studies, XVIII, pp 276 ff 13I FIG 9 TOY OINOCHOE CHILDREN AT A DIONYSIAC FESTIVAL partly painted in red on the black glaze The color which was applied chiefly on the nude parts has now largely disappeared, leaving only a discoloration of the surface Another interesting technical point is illus- 4Cf Bather, J H S, XIV, pp 244 ff, and Jane Harrison, Prolegomena to Greek Religion, p 364

5 trated in this vase: the black glaze has turned red on one side by oxidization in the kiln and has moreover peeled off in places showing clearly, underneath, the more brilliant red of the ochre applied to the whole surface of the vase before the appli- cation of the glaze The two reds can FIG 10 SMALL KYLIX BOY PLAYING THE LYRE easily be distinguished by their different levels Attractive pieces among our new vases are also a number of lekythoi of various sizes with single figures, viz, a running Hermes, a flying Nike, an Eros before an altar, a Satyr with a lion, a Satyr with a cup and ladle, a boy on horseback, an Eros and a bird A round little box has a Satyr on the cover, delicately drawn; a larger one a woman's head On an olpe is an archer shooting an arrow; on a trefoil oinochoe a woman with a sash In the interior of a small kylix is a sphinx A large kylix is decorated with satyrs and warriors A Nolan amphora shows a maid handing a jewel chest to her mistress And a hydria, burnt grey, has a lovely scene of a woman waited on by her attendants and a little Eros flying to her with two balls; perhaps she is a bride getting ready for the wedding Besides these whole vases a number of fragments are included, the most conspicuous being the one by the Brygos painter mentioned above Three vases have no figured representa- tions but are distinguished for their fine form and good preservation One is a magnificent bell krater with lug handles, glazed black throughout except for an ivy wreath round the outside of the lip (fig 2); a tall lekythos is decorated with effective 132 palmette ornaments and maeanders; and a dainty black amphora has flutings and stamped patterns Three are moulded vases shaped in the forms of the head of a woman (fig 3), a lobster claw (fig 5), and the head of a Satyr The first especially is an exquisite piece of work, highly finished Finally we must mention two small amphorae with single figures which are not Athenian, but contemporary Etruscan copies We know that the Etruscans imported Athenian ware in great quantities, and it is of course natural that they now and then imitated it The technique is rather different in that the details are in- cised instead of painted and there is not the same flow of line that delights us in the Greek examples It is interesting also to note the change in the expressions The same difficulty which a modern draughts- man meets when he wishes to copy Greek faces was here encountered by the Etruscan artist The economy of line practiced in this art made the slightest variation pro- duce an entirely different effect GISELA M A RICHTER,;;;;' t,x'' ' J ' rv,-"," ' I'',! t FIG I PUNCHED WORK ON LATTEN BANDS EARLY GOTHIC ARMOR In every branch of the Museum's ex- hibitional work there exist troublesome epochs, epochs inaccessible, epochs which certainly were rich in art objects but from which today materials for illustration are not to be had Thus, our Egyptian anti- quities fade away in the interval between