GREEK ART OF THE FIFTH CENTURY B.C.:
THE BOTHMER GALLERY II
The Gallery for Greek Art of the Fifth Century continues the artistic progression from the time of the Persian Wars (ca. 500-479 B.C.) until the second half of the fifth century B.C. The Museum’s vases, bronzes, terracottas, and gems of this period are particularly important because they constitute original works of art from a time when the great creations of bronze and marble sculpture are, in large part, lost or preserved only in later copies of the Roman period. Coins in the Museum’s collection are supplemented in this gallery by the loan of approximately 75 significant coins from the American Numismatic Society. Coinage is significant not only for its historical and commercial aspects but also for its iconographical and esthetic qualities. The devices that represent specific cities – the head of Athena for Athens or Pegasos, the flying horse, for Corinth – are also recurrent motifs in other media.
During the first half of the fifth century, Greek artists mastered the organic representation of the human body, and the results are manifest in all media. In vase painting, an extraordinary group of potters and painters were active in Athens, and most feature prominently in this gallery. Euphronios and Euthymides belonged to the innovators who exploited the expressive possibilities of the red-figure technique at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the fifth century B.C. Their successors often specialized in specific vessel shapes. Thus, artists such as the Brygos Painter, Douris, and Makron devoted themselves to the embellishment of drinking cups, while the Kleophrades Painter, the Berlin Painter, Myson, and others devoted themselves to larger pots. The current reinstallation makes it possible for the first time in many years to see the major works of the foremost painters grouped together.
White-ground vases found particular favor during this time. Superlative examples include, two of the most popular vases in the collection: a pyxis (toilet box) decorated with the Judgment of Paris and a bobbin (or yo yo) that was made as a dedication. Both works are attributed to the Penthesilea Painter.
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