Lowenstam Collection of Ancient Western Art and Archaeology

Singer/Reveler

Title
Singer/Reveler
Repository
J. Paul Getty Museum
Alternative
Attic Red-Figure Cup Wine Cup with a Singing Reveler Paleothodoros, Dimitris. Epictetos, Collection D'etudes Classiques. (Louvain, Namur, Paris and Dudley, MA: Editions Peeters/Societe Des Etudes Classiques, 2004), vol. 18
Creator
Epiktetos
Photographer
Lowenstam, Steven
Creator Display
Epiktetos (Greek vase painter, active ca. 520-490 BCE)
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
Inscription
On the tondo, as if from the singer's mouth: ELOI ESE(N) --J. Paul Getty Museum
View
Interior
Coverage
Athens, Periféreia Protevoúsis, Greece (creation) Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection (owner)
Temporal
ca. 510 BCE
Subject
Epeleios Painter Epiktetos Evaion Painter Pottery V Red Figure Symposium Red Figure, White, Animal
Style Period
Red-figure Attic (Mainland Greek pottery styles)
Work Type
kylikes
Date
-0515/-0505
Identifier
Lowenstam_VRC_06275
Item Locator
Box 14, Section 10
Rights
In Copyright
Dc Rights Holder
University of Oregon, Department of Classics
Local Collection Name
Steven Lowenstam Collection
Type
Image
Format
image/tiff
Measurements
Height: 7.8 cm; Width (handles): 25.3 cm; Diameter (mouth): 18 to 18.3 cm
Material
terracotta
Set
Lowenstam Collection of Ancient Western Art and Archaeology
Primary Set
Lowenstam Collection of Ancient Western Art and Archaeology
Institution
University of Oregon
Cultural Context
Attic (culture)
Id Current Repository
86.AE.279