Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History


    • Krater, second half of 8th century b.c.; Geometric
    Attributed to the Hirschfeld Workshop
    Greek, Attic
    Terracotta

    H. 42 5/8 in. (108.25 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.130.14)

    During the Geometric period, monumental grave markers were introduced in the form of large vases, often decorated with funerary representations. On this magnificent krater, the main scene, which occupies the widest portion of the vase, shows the prothesis, a ritual in ancient Greek funerary practice in which the deceased is laid out on a high bed (bier), usually within the house. During the prothesis, relatives and friends may come to mourn and pay their respects to the deceased. Here, the figure seated at the foot of the bier may be the dead man's wife, and the smaller figure on her lap their child.

    For optimal clarity, the deceased is shown on his side and the checkered shroud that would normally cover the body has been raised and regularized into a long rectangle. The figures on either side of the bier are depicted with the triangular chests shown frontally and breasts in profile. The figures' legs and circular heads are also rendered in profile. A meander pattern delineates the neck from the body of the vessel. This vase represents the Geometric style, which takes its name from the geometric shapes that constitute its artistic language.

    In a band below the funeral scene, chariots stand hitched to teams of horses and warriors carry spears and large shields. The figures may refer to the military exploits of the deceased; however, as hourglass shields and chariots played a more limited role at this time than in the earlier Bronze Age, the scene more likely evokes the glorious ancestry and traditions to which the dead man belonged.

    Related


    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Moore, Mary B. "The Passas Painter: A Protoattic 'Realist'?" Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 38 (2003).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Moore, Mary B. "Ships on a 'Wine-Dark Sea' in the Age of Homer." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 35 (2000).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Mertens, Joan R. "Some Long Thoughts on Early Cycladic Sculpture." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 33 (1998).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta. "The Department of Greek and Roman art: Triumphs and Tribulations." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 3 (1970).
    JSTOR | PDF
    • On view: Gallery 150
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    • Krater, second half of 8th century b.c.; Geometric
    Attributed to the Hirschfeld Workshop
    Greek, Attic
    Terracotta

    H. 42 5/8 in. (108.25 cm)
    Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.130.14)


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