Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Exekias (active 540-520 BCE) (follower or school of)

Item type:

vessel

Date of creation:

ca. 530-520 BCE

Height:

40.3 cm  (15 7/8 in.)

Diameter:

28.3 cm  (11 1/8 in.)

Technique / Medium:

black-figure terracotta

Description

Side A: Apollo between Hermes and a goddess; Apollo holding kithara in his left hand, in his right hand the plektron, which is attached to the sound box by a long cord incised on the clay ground; part of the sash hangs down the side of the instrument, and next to the fold of the player's mantle is the cloth used to cover the kithara when it is not used; Side B: Memnon with his Ethiopian squires.
In the Trojan War, Memnon, the son of Tithonos and Eos, the goddess of the dawn, led a contingent of Ethiopians allied with the Trojans. He was killed by Achilles in a duel watched by their mothers. The present condition of the vase provides insight into the painter's working method. Memnon's shield was drawn with a compass—the circles are evident—and it would have been painted in added white directly onto the clay. Without the white, we can see the cursory sketch that the artist drew for the figure's torso.In the Trojan War, Memnon, the son of Tithonos and Eos, the goddess of the dawn, led a contingent of Ethiopians allied with the Trojans. He was killed by Achilles in a duel watched by their mothers. The present condition of the vase provides insight into the painter's working method. Memnon's shield was drawn with a compass—the circles are evident—and it would have been painted in added white directly onto the clay. Without the white, we can see the cursory sketch that the artist drew for the figure's torso.

Iconclass

92B373
Apollo playing the lyre, Apollo Citharoedus

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Kithara [4940]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

3861