Black-Figure Neck Amphora

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Title	Black-Figure Neck Amphora
Artist	Attributed to the Painter of Vatican 359
Date	c. 540 B.C.
Institution	Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Location	On view at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, G241

Black-Figure Neck Amphora, Attributed to the Painter of Vatican 359

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Black-Figure Neck Amphora: Gallery Label - Current

This massive amphora, used for carrying wine or oil, recalls the works of the great Exekias. The figures, although lacking the refinement found in those he painted, exhibit this master's distinctive style, which others in his workshop copied.

The front shows a quadriga, or four-horse chariot, at rest. Standing inside are Poseidon, holding a trident, and his wife, Amphitrite. An unidentified goddess, perhaps Athena, and Hermes, who holds a caduceus, or symbolic staff, stand beside the chariot. The scene may depict the gods and goddesses preparing to depart for an Olympian council or for the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.

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Black Figure Neck Amphora:

BACKGROUND
The Archaic Period (late 7th century to 480 B.C.) saw the revival of Greece as a commercial and industrial center, as it had been previously during its Bronze Age (2800-1000 B.C.). The expansion of Greek colonies throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas (750-600 B.C.) established a marketplace for Greek wares; metal utensils, weapons, textiles, and pottery were in great demand.

This increase in economic prosperity resulted in improved educational opportunities for the citizenry. Knowledge of reading, writing, mathematics, poetry, music, and gymnastics soon spread among the people. The expanding city-states became centers of culture.

Concurrent with these developments came a new sense of the dignity of humanity as represented by the average Greek citizen. In literature and the arts, representations of the human figure became more natural and those of the gods became more anthropomorphized, assuring the populace that there was nothing more divine than the human form. Greek vases, distinguished by their elegant shapes and scenes painted from mythology and daily life, were testimony to this new humanistic spirit.

GREEK VASES
Attic vases:

Reached their peak in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C.
Were exported to many foreign countries.
Illustrate lives and beliefs of ancient Greeks:
- Portray
- gods and goddesses
- battles
- athletic games
- everyday activities
- funerary rites
Had many uses, both ceremonial and utilitarian:
- Ceremonial
- Used at feasts and other important events.
- Awarded as prizes or trophies at athletic events.
- Used in religious ceremonies.
- Served as receptacles for offerings outside the tomb and as containers for the ashes of the dead within the tomb.
  Utilitarian
- Taken to and from fountains.
- Filled and refilled at banquets.
- Carried about by athletes.
- Used by women during their toilet.
- Brought as gifts to brides. (Gisela)
Came in many shapes; the form corresponded to the purpose. This Amphora, for example, was used to store wine or oil. (In Greek, amphora means "to bear on both sides." Note the placement of the two handles.)

TECHNIQUE
The pots were thrown and turned on the wheel, except for the relatively few molded and hand-built ones. Smaller vases were thrown in one piece; the larger ones were thrown in sections. The sections were usually made at the structural points, for instance, between neck and body or body and foot. To conceal them, thin coils of clay were added on the outside. The joints are often visible on the inside, however, because coils were not added there. The handles were made separately by hand, not molded, and were added last. Decorations were applied while the clay was leather-hard. The figures were painted with engobe, a slip of finely sifted clay mixed with water. After the decoration was completed and the vases became bone-dry, they were placed in the kiln and fired. During this single firing, three successive stages occurred-oxidation, reduction, and reoxidation. In the first, the body of the vase and the engobe turned red; in the second, the oxygen supply to the kiln was cut off, causing both the vase and the engobe to become black (or gray); in the third, oxygen was returned to the kiln, and the clay of the vase turned red again as it absorbed the oxygen. (Gisela) The engobe, however, because of its different consistency, did not reabsorb the oxygen so those parts of the vessel painted with engobe remained black.

At the time this vase was made, artists rendered the figures and designs as dark forms against the red clay background, so these vessels are called black-figure ware. Details were incised into the silhouettes with a sharp, pointed instrument, which exposed the red underneath.

ARTIST
Exekias was a Greek potter and vase painter of the 6th century B.C. whose works influenced many younger potters and painters. He was the major black-figure painter at the critical time when black-figure ware painting was giving way to red-figure ware, in which the forms appear red against a black background. He was well-known for his superior design and for painting scenes with a wealth of detail in an elegant, yet forceful, style. In addition, he was famous because he was both a potter and a painter, which was unusual. (Pots have been found signed, "Exekias painted me and made me.") Using the black-figure style, Exekias was one of the best of the Athenian potters, and his wares dominated Mediterranean trade. Nine existing vessels carry his signatures; his depictions of heroes and gods convey a sense of controlled energy and inner structural harmony.

AMPHORA
This is a neck-amphora, so called because the neck is set off sharply from the body rather than connecting with the body in a gentle curve.

The Amphora is attributed to the workshop of Exekias because its shape resembles those made by the famous Attic potter. The vessel, if not by his hand, is by an artist working under him and thoroughly familiar with his manner.

Typical of Greek storage vessels, its form is a large, full-bodied one, with footed base, two handles, and a tapered-lipped neck. The Amphora's decoration is elaborate, for the shoulder, as well as the body of the pot, are ornamented with figures.

Both the front and back shoulder sections show two warriors in combat near the main axis of the vase. A cast of onlookers, including men on horseback and women, fill the spaces behind them. On the front right shoulder, there is an additional figure holding a caduceus, Hermes' symbolic staff. We are not sure whether this figure is Hermes or a mortal, an example of how similarly the Greeks portrayed men and gods.

The central scene on the front of the vase depicts a four-horse chariot standing still, with two persons, one male and one female, in the car. The male holds a trident and is Poseidon, god of the seas; his companion is logically his wife, the goddess Amphitrite. They are accompanied by Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods, and another goddess.

On the back panel of the vase, a striding warrior turns toward a woman who stands behind him while beyond them is a robed youth. The warrior is fully armed but does not carry a spear as he ought to. A sword is suspended from a baldric over his right shoulder. (A baldric is a belt worn over one shoulder to support a sword or bugle.) His shield is shown in profile, and we can still see part of the tripod, a symbol of victory, which decorated it. (The tripod, painted in white over the glaze, has partially worn away.) He appears to be departing while the woman bids him farewell. The informal dress of the man on the right indicates that he is a spectator. The figure on the left is also an onlooker.

The decorations emphasize and complement the parts of the vessel where they are placed. For example, the largest figures are on the main body of the vessel while smaller figures decorate the tinier area of the shoulder. Motifs also decorate many areas of the Amphora, emphasizing each segment:

A double lotus-palmette chain complements the neck.
A tongue pattern highlights the shoulder at the junction of the neck.
Four palmettes and three lotuses are placed below each handle to emphasize the sides which divide the front and back portions.
Below the figures in the main body, a meander pattern to the left acts like a base-line for these figures.
Below the meander, a frieze of upright lotus buds with dots in the interstices highlights the narrowing of this portion of the vessel.
Above the foot, a zone of rays emphasizes the widening of the body from the foot to draw our attention to the scene on the main body of the vessel.

TOUR TIPS
Use on many tours, including the following:

Ancient
Using an Art Reflects the Culture theme, emphasize how much we can learn about the Greek's technology from what is portrayed here (i.e., they had spears, horses, chariots, and wheels). Also emphasize the Greek view of humankind: notice how much of the vessel is taken up with the portrayal of humans and remind the viewer that the human figure is the principal motif of Greek art because "man" is central to Greek thought and interest.
Gods and Heroes
How Was It Made?
See technique section.
Decorative Arts
How does this container compare to the Shang vessels? To the De Lamerie wine cooler?
Spirituality and Art
How do Poseidon and Hermes compare to Osiris? To Buddha? To Christ?

See The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin article, Vol. 47, July-December 1958, p. 40.

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: An Attic Black-Figures Vase

The handsome black-figured vase recently acquired by the Institute was made in Athens in the third quarter of the sixth century B.C. (figures 2 and 3). It is what archeologists call a "neck-amphora" to distinguish the shape from the "one-piece amphora," in which the neck passes into the body with a gradual curve instead of being set sharply off from it as in our vase. There are other essential differences, and it is desirable to keep the two shapes well apart and not to use the same word amphora to cover them both. The majority of Attic neck-amphorae are later than ours: longer-necked and less broad-shouldered, they have a less massive and powerful look. In shape, our vase resembles those made by the famous Attic potter Exekias, and the potterwork, if not by him, is by an artist working under him and thoroughly in his manner. Exekias was a famous vase-painter as well as a famous potter, and two of his vases bear the double signature Exekias egrapse kapeose me, "Exekias painted me and made me." The figure-work of our vase is not by Exekias, but it is in his manner: the figures are quiet and staid like his, but lack his refinement and his solemnity. The rendering of the details, too, is different. A vase in the Vatican (figure 1), both for shape and decoration, stands in just the same relation to Exekias as the Minneapolis vase, and the figures as well as the patterns are by the same hand. The subjects of the Vatican vase are, on one side, Dionysos, a goddess with two children in her arms, and Hermes; on the other side, a man seated, a woman standing before him and drawing his attention, and two youths looking on (figure 1). The Minneapolis case is somewhat more elaborate, for the shoulder is decorated with figures as well as the body. On each side of the vase in the small, shoulder figures, there are two warriors in combat, and onlookers; beyond each warrior, a naked youth on horseback, a youth and a woman. In the front picture there is an additional figure on the right, a herald-whether Hermes or a mortal-holding a caduceus and raising one arm. The warriors ought to have spears in their hands, but the artist has forgotten to draw them.The chief picture on the front of the vase (figure 2) is a four-horse chariot standing still, with two persons, one male and one female, in the car. The male holds a trident and is therefore Poseidon; his companion must be his wife, the goddess Amphitrite. They are accompanied by Hermes and by a goddess whom we cannot name. On the back of the vase (figure 3), a warrior, walking, turns around towards a woman who stand behind him; behind the woman is a man, wearing a short cloak, who raises his hand; behind the warrior is a youth, fully dressed. The warrior is fully armed, and ought to carry a spear, but as in the small pictures, the spear is omitted. He seems to be setting out, and the woman to be bidding him farewell. The informal dress of the man on the left suggests that he is not the father, but a subordinate rather then a principal. The youth on the right is a mere spectator. The attitudes are vague, and it is impossible to say that for the warrior the artist has any particular hero in mind.It is as a piece of fine pottery, adequately decorated with figures and patterns, that the new vase must be judged.Referenced Works of Art

Attic Vase, 6th century, Vatican Museum.
Attic Vase (front), 6th century, 15 1/2 inches high. The John R. Van Derlip fund, 1958
Attic Vase (back), 6th century, 15 1/2 inches high. The John R. Van Derlip fund, 1958

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Tags (28)

Medium:

Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects, Ceramic | Slip-glazed earthenware

Size:

15 1/4 x 11 in. (38.74 x 27.94 cm)

Creation Place:

Greek, Attica

Culture:

Greek, Greek, Attica

Style:

6th-5th century B.C.

Physical Description:

Black-figured amphorah, used for carrying wine or oil; the front side depicts a quadriga with Poseidon, Amphitrite, another unidentified goddess, and heroenes; on the reverse and around warrior appears to be leaving for battle, with his wife and son bidding him farewell

Credit:

Collection Minneapolis Institute of Arts; The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund

Accession Number:

57.1

Artist:

the Painter of Vatican 359, Greek (Attica)

Role:

Artist

Nationality:

Greek

Life Dates:

Greek (Attica)

Added to Site:

February 28, 2009

Black-Figure Neck Amphora

Attributed to the Painter of Vatican 359

c. 540 B.C.