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Description: Reclining on a couch, an older balding man tilts his head back and sings, accompanying himself on the lyre. Several features of the scene, such as the couch, the pillow, and especially the wreath the man wears, reveal that he is a participant at a symposion or drinking party. Many Greek vases, especially elaborate cups, were designed for use at such parties. Therefore, vase-painters frequently decorated these vessels with scenes of revelry and drinking. The circular area or tondo on the interior of a cup presented problems for Greek vase-painters. It was difficult to fit upright figures in this limited, curving space. Artists devised different solutions for this problem: some drew a line across the circle to create an artificial ground-line for their figures. On this vase, Epiktetos came up with a creative solution. He drew a line across the circle but made it the man's couch, rather than a ground-line. The edge of the man's mantle slipping down behind and below the line, creates the impression of depth and space. Epiktetos also used the circular frame of the tondo as part of the composition: it supports the man's pillow, and he props his foot on it. --J. Paul Getty Museum ; Bareiss Loan Number: S.80.AE.252

Description: Part of Group of 3 terracotta works titled "Poet as Orpheus and two sirens." Group described by Getty Museum as a seated man flanked by sirens, creatures part bird and part woman, in a nearly life-size terracotta group. In Greek mythology, the singing of the sirens lured sailors to their deaths; thus the creatures have general funerary connotations. The seated man is also a singer, as shown by his open mouth and his now-missing lyre, which he once cradled in his left arm. His precise identity, however, is uncertain. He might be Orpheus, who was famous for his singing and who traveled to the land of the dead and was able to return. But in art of this period, Orpheus is usually shown wearing a specific Eastern costume not seen here. Therefore, this man may just be an ordinary mortal, perhaps the deceased, in the guise of a poet or singer. Originally brightly painted, this large-scale terracotta sculpture is characteristic of the Greek colonies in South Italy. With its funerary imagery, the group may have decorated a tomb. Although terracotta sculpture is also found in mainland Greece, artists in the Greek colonies in South Italy used this medium with greater frequency and on a larger scale because there were few sources of good stone suitable for sculpting. --The J. Paul Getty Museum

Description: Photograph from the personal collection of Dr. Steven Lowenstam (1945-2003), Department of Classics, University of Oregon.

Description: Photograph from the personal collection of Dr. Steven Lowenstam (1945-2003), Department of Classics, University of Oregon.

Description: Photograph from the personal collection of Dr. Steven Lowenstam (1945-2003), Department of Classics, University of Oregon.

Description: Photograph from the personal collection of Dr. Steven Lowenstam (1945-2003), Department of Classics, University of Oregon.

Description: Photograph from the personal collection of Dr. Steven Lowenstam (1945-2003), Department of Classics, University of Oregon.

Description: Part of Group of 3 terracotta works titled "Poet as Orpheus and two sirens." Group described by Getty Museum as a seated man flanked by sirens, creatures part bird and part woman, in a nearly life-size terracotta group. In Greek mythology, the singing of the sirens lured sailors to their deaths; thus the creatures have general funerary connotations. The seated man is also a singer, as shown by his open mouth and his now-missing lyre, which he once cradled in his left arm. His precise identity, however, is uncertain. He might be Orpheus, who was famous for his singing and who traveled to the land of the dead and was able to return. But in art of this period, Orpheus is usually shown wearing a specific Eastern costume not seen here. Therefore, this man may just be an ordinary mortal, perhaps the deceased, in the guise of a poet or singer. Originally brightly painted, this large-scale terracotta sculpture is characteristic of the Greek colonies in South Italy. With its funerary imagery, the group may have decorated a tomb. Although terracotta sculpture is also found in mainland Greece, artists in the Greek colonies in South Italy used this medium with greater frequency and on a larger scale because there were few sources of good stone suitable for sculpting. --The J. Paul Getty Museum