Obverse, Neoptolemos departing Reverse, man and two women
The magnificent decoration here depicts the departure of a warrior for combat; every figure is identified by name. Kalliope, the woman with the oinochoe (jug) and phiale (libation bowl), and Antimachos, the man holding the shield and helmet, define the immediate subject. At the same time, the seated man, Antiochos, who clasps his son's hand, and the general tenor of the representation have direct counterparts on grave stelai. The funerary overtones are emphasized by the palmette on the neck—equivalent to the palmette finials on marble stelai.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) with twisted handles
Artist:Attributed to the Lykaon Painter
Period:Classical
Date:ca. 440 BCE
Culture:Greek, Attic
Medium:Terracotta; red-figure
Dimensions:H. 24 1/8 in. (61.3 cm) diameter 12 in. (30.5 cm)
Classification:Vases
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1906
Accession Number:06.1021.116
Inscription: The names of Neoptolemos, Kalliope, Antiochos, and Antimachos are inscribed.
Hôtel Drouot. May 11-14, 1903. Collection d'Antiquités Grecques & Romaines: vases peints et moulés, terres cuites, verrerie, sculptures, bronzes, bijoux. no. 100, p. 30, pls. 3–4.
Canessa, Ercole and Arthur Sambon. 1904. Vases Antiques de Terre Cuite: Collection Canessa, Bibliothèque du Musée. pp. 29–30 n. 93, pls.6, 9, Paris.
Sambon, Arthur. 1904. "La Collection Canessa." Le Musée: revue d'art antique, 1: p. 204.
Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta. 1906. "The Canessa Collection." Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, IX(39). pp. 204, 208, fig. 5.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1917. Handbook of the Classical Collection. p. 121, fig. 77, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Beazley, John D. 1918. Attic Red-Figured Vases in American Museums. pp. 172–3 n. 1, fig. 106, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hoppin, James C. 1919. A Handbook of Attic Red-Figure Vases, Vol. 2. p.164 n. 6, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A., Marjorie J. Milne, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1922. Shapes of Greek Vases. New York.
McClees, Helen. 1924. The Daily Life of the Greeks and Romans: As Illustrated in the Classical Collections. pp. 24, 84, figs. 24, 103, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Beazley, John D. 1925. Attische Vasenmaler des rotfigurigen Stils. p. 398 n. 1, Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1926. Ancient Furniture: A History of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Furniture. p. 50, fig. 144, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 153–54, fig. 105, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jacobsthal, Paul. 1927. Ornamente griechischer Vasen: Aufnahmen. p. 142 n. 263, Berlin: Frankfurter Verlags Anstalt.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1930. Handbook of the Classical Collection. pp. 153–54, fig. 105, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
McClees, Helen and Christine Alexander. 1933. The Daily Life of the Greeks and Romans: As Illustrated in the Classical Collections, 5th ed. pp. 28–29, 58, 84, 86, 88, figs. 30, 110, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. and Marjorie J. Milne. 1935. Shapes and Names of Athenian Vases. pp. 3–4, fig. 22, New York: Plantin Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. and Lindsley F. Hall. 1936. Red-Figured Athenian Vases in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 130, pp. 128–29, 163, 169, pls. 128, 129, 169, New Haven: Yale University Press.
McClees, Helen and Christine Alexander. 1941. The Daily Life of the Greeks and Romans: As Illustrated in the Classical Collections, 6th ed. pp. 28–29, 58, 84, 86, 88, figs. 30, 110, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Beazley, John D. 1942. Attic Red-figure Vase-painters. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1946. Attic Red-Figured Vases: A Survey. p. 116, fig. 33c–d, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Metzger, Henri. 1951. Les représentations dans la céramique attique du IVe siècle. no. 26, pp. 130–35, 144, Paris: E. de Boccard.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. pp. 100, 240, pl. 80d, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1958[1946]. Attic Red-Figured Vases: A Survey, Revised Edition, 2nd edn. p. 116, fig. 33c–d, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Kraiker, Wilhelm. 1958. Die Malerei der Griechen. pp. 91, 159, pl. 44, Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag.
Beazley, John D. 1963[1942]. Attic Red-figure Vase-painters, Vols. 1 and 2, 2nd ed. p. 1044, no. 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Kraiker, Wilhelm. 1963. Hellas: Kunst der Griechen. pl. 124, Tübingen: August Hopfer Verlag.
Noble, Joseph V. 1965. The Techniques of Attic Painted Pottery. fig. 99, New York: Watson-Guptill.
Neumann, Gerhard. 1965. Gesten und Gebärden in der griechischen Kunst. Mit 77 Abbildungen.. p. 57, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co.
Gericke, Helga. 1970. Gefässdarstellungen auf griechischen Vasen. pp.158 n. 233, 171 n.190, Berlin: Hessling.
Beazley, John D. 1971. Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters and to Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters [2nd edition]. p. 444, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ashmead, Ann Harnwell and Kyle Meredith Phillips Jr. 1976. Catalogue of the Classical Collection: Classical vases, excluding attic black-figure, Attic red-figure and Attic white ground, Vol. 4. p. 30, Providence, RI: Rhode Island School of Design.
Stupperich, Reinhard. 1977. "Staatsbegräbnis und Privatgrabmal im klassischen Athen. Ph.D. Diss." Ph.D. Diss. p. 183 n.1. Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität zu Münster.
Johnston, Alan W. 1979. Trademarks on Greek Vases. p. 105, Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips.
Braun, Karin and Thea Elisabeth Haevernick. 1981. Bemalte Keramik und Glas aus dem Kabirenheiligtum bei Theben, Kabirenheiligtum bei Theben Bd. 4. p. 81, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co.
Sassatelli, Giusseppe. 1981. Corpus speculorum Etruscorum: Bologna: Museo Civico. p. 58, Roma: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
Sutton, Robert. 1981. "The interaction between Men and Women Portrayed on Attic Red-figure Pottery." Ph.D. Diss. no. W76, pp. 211, 256. University of Michigan.
Davies, Glenys. 1985. "The Significance of the Handshake Motif in Classical Funerary Art." American Journal of Archaeology, 89(4): p. 628 n. 8.
Clairmont, Christoph W. 1986. "Some Reflections on the Earliest Classical Attic Gravestones." Boreas: Münstersche Beiträge zur Archäologie, 9: p. 48.
Matheson, Susan B. 2005. "A Farewell with Arms: Departing Warriors on Athenian Vases." Periklean Athens and Its Legacy: Problems and Perspectives, Judith M. Barringer and Jeffrey M. Hurwit, eds. p. 29, fig. 3.5, Austin: University of Texas Press.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 154, pp. 138, 434, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mertens, Joan R. 2010. How to Read Greek Vases. no. 26, pp. 130–35, 144, 161, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lezzi-Hafter, Adrienne, Cécile Jubier-Galinier, Leslie Threatte, Jan-Matthias Müller, and Kristine Gex. 2016. Potters - Painters - Scribes : Inscriptions on Attic Vases, Rudolf Wachter, ed. p. 150, Zürich: Akanthus Verlag für Archäologie.
Hixenbaugh, Randall. 2019. Ancient Greek Helmets : A complete guide and catalog. pp. 90–91, fig. 48, New York: Hixenbaugh Ancient Art.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
