Day 46 - Krater showing Nike and charioteer
April 19, 2018
Gallery 157 is yet another gallery with dozens of kylixes (drinking cups), amphoras (jars), kraters (vessels for mixing water and wine), and other kinds of ceramics. The ones I like best are, for the most part, ones that "break the mold" in form or design. There's a wonderful cup shaped like a cow's hoof, on the exterior of which are painted a cowherd and his dog keeping watch over the cattle. Another cup is in the form of a black man's head; the cup is mostly black, but a red glaze makes his curly hair and lips really stand out, although almost as a caricature, by our standards. (Apparently, black people were known to the Greeks from Homeric times on.)
There are a few more conventionally-shaped ceramics I like for their unusual subjects. One shows a man and a woman reclining on a long couch. It's a welcome change from so many scenes of Greeks fighting Amazons, satyrs pursuing women, and so on.
Today's object is a krater about 24 inches high and dating to the second quarter of the 5th century B.C.E. On one side, it depicts a familiar subject - an athletic contest - but I like it because of the unusual composition. It shows a winged Nike awarding a laurel bough (it really doesn't look like a wreath) to a charioteer, whose chariot is drawn by a team of four horses. The scene is set within a rectangular frame formed by the ground below the figures at the bottom, what appear to be columns on either side of the main figures, and a geometric design at the top. (The amphora is on the top shelf of the display case, so I can't see the last clearly.) The heads and hind legs of the horses overlap, but eight distinct forelegs are raised off the ground - and three of these legs extend onto the frame at the left. The race may be over and the victor already determined, but the horses seem ready to plunge forward. Or perhaps their front legs are lifted because the charioteer is gripping the reins tightly to bring them to a halt.
There are a few more conventionally-shaped ceramics I like for their unusual subjects. One shows a man and a woman reclining on a long couch. It's a welcome change from so many scenes of Greeks fighting Amazons, satyrs pursuing women, and so on.
Today's object is a krater about 24 inches high and dating to the second quarter of the 5th century B.C.E. On one side, it depicts a familiar subject - an athletic contest - but I like it because of the unusual composition. It shows a winged Nike awarding a laurel bough (it really doesn't look like a wreath) to a charioteer, whose chariot is drawn by a team of four horses. The scene is set within a rectangular frame formed by the ground below the figures at the bottom, what appear to be columns on either side of the main figures, and a geometric design at the top. (The amphora is on the top shelf of the display case, so I can't see the last clearly.) The heads and hind legs of the horses overlap, but eight distinct forelegs are raised off the ground - and three of these legs extend onto the frame at the left. The race may be over and the victor already determined, but the horses seem ready to plunge forward. Or perhaps their front legs are lifted because the charioteer is gripping the reins tightly to bring them to a halt.
The scene on the reverse, which shows a woman holding two torches standing between two men, is more conventional. But on this side I really like the originality of the composition and the sense of momentum and excitement it conveys.
Comments
Post a Comment