On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Volute krater (mixing bowl) depicting Medea at Eleusis (A); Dionysian scene (B),
ca. 340–330 BCE
Attributed to the Darius Painter
South Italian, Apulian
Classical Period, ca. 480–323 BCE
y1983-13
In the late fifth century BCE, the artists of southern Italy began making their own red-figure ceramics, often adapting Athenian shapes and decoration. Although kraters were intended for mixing wine and water, this vessel has a hole in its base to release liquid offerings to the deceased. The reverse depicts a Dionysian scene, while the front features a white structure, identified by the inscription as “the Temple of Eleusis.” Inside stand a white-haired man and a woman, Medea, who helped Jason steal the Golden Fleece and murdered their two children when he abandoned her. Below, two children, possibly Medea’s, are seated on an altar. To the right are Nike and Herakles, who holds the myrtle boughs of an initiate in the Eleusinian mysteries. Above them are the gods of Eleusis, Demeter and Persephone, holding crossbar torches, while on the lower left are two youths, possibly Castor and Pollux. Above them flies Nike, crowning Athena. No story connecting Medea with Eleusis has survived, although the scene may be based on a lost play that features a narrative variant.
Information
Title
Volute krater (mixing bowl) depicting Medea at Eleusis (A); Dionysian scene (B)
Dates
ca. 340–330 BCE
Maker
Attributed to the Darius Painter
Medium
Red-figure ceramic
Dimensions
h. 100.1 cm, diam. 37.0 cm (39 7/16 x 14 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Carl Otto von Kienbusch Jr., Memorial Collection Fund in honor of Francis Follin Jones
Object Number
y1983-13
Place Made
Europe, Italy, Apulia (southern Italy)
Inscription
An inscription on the lintel identifies the edifice as "the Temple of Eleusis," the sanctuary of Demeter near Athens and the seat of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries.;
Culture
Period
Type
Subject
heroes, slaves, bacchantes, myrtle, Ionic order, columns (architectural elements), volutes, palmettes, men, staffs (walking sticks), mythology, figures (representations), deities, paganism, temples, satyrs, scrollwork, swans, women, shields (armor), helmets, children (people by age group), flowers (plants)
Formerly in the collection of Henri Jacques, Switzerland; purchased by the Museum from Robin Symes in 1983.
- John Boardman, et. al., Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC), (Zürich: Artemis Verlag, 1981-2009)., Vol. 4: p. 883, Demeter 468; p. 726, pl. 442, Herakleidai 9; p. 806, pl. 536, Herakles 1409; Vol. 5: p. 755, pl. 498, Iris I 153;
-
A.D. Trendall and Alexander Cambitoglou, First supplement to the Red-figured vases of Apulia, (London: University of London. Institute of Classical Studies, 1983).
, p. 78; cat. no. 41a - "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1983," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 43, no. 1 (1984): p. 18-42., p. 35
- A. D. Trendall, "Medea at Eleusis on a volute krater by the Darius Painter", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 43, no. 1 (1984): p. 4-17., p. 4-13; figs. 1-9
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 29 (illus.)
- M. Schmidt, "Medeia und Herakles: zwei tragische Kindermörder," in Elke Böhr and Wolfram Martini, eds., Studien zur Mythologie und Vasenmalerei: Festschrift für Konrad Schauenburg, (Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1986). , p. 169-74
- Rainer Vollkommer, Herakles in the art of classical Greece, (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Committee for Archaeology, 1988). , p. 61; no. 466
- Karl Schefold, Die Sagen von der Argonauten, von Theben und Troia in der klassischen und hellenistischen Kunst, (München: Hirmer Verlag, 1989). , p. 45; fig. 27 bis
- Jean-Paul Descœudres, ed., Greek colonists and native populations: proceedings of the first Australian Congress of Classical Archaeology held in honour of A. D. Trendall, Sydney 9-14 July 1985, (Canberra: Humanities Research Centre; Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1990). , pl. 22.1
- A.D. Trendall and Alexander Cambitoglou, Second supplement to the red-figured vases of Apulia, (London: University of London, Institute of Classical Studies, 1991-1992)., Vol. 1: p. 138; cat. no. 41a
- Bernd Brandes-Druba, Architekturdarstellungen in der unteritalischen Keramik, (Frankfurt am Main; New York: P. Lang, 1994)., p. 207-08, nos. I.A. 22-23; pl. 4-5
- Hélène Guiraud, "La figure de Médée sur les vases grecs", Pallas 45 (1996): p. 207-218., p. 207-218; fig. 2
- Bettina Bergmann and Christine Kondoleon, eds., The art of ancient spectacle, (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art; London: Yale University Press, 1999). , p. 58; no. 31
- Luigi Todisco, et. al., La ceramica figurata a soggetto tragico in Magna Grecia e in Sicilia, (Roma: G. Bretschneider, 2003). , p. 461; pl. 49, Ap 165
-
Oliver Taplin, Pots and plays: interactions between tragedy and Greek vase-painting of the fourth century B.C., (Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007).
, p. 238-240; cat. no. 94 -
C. Krause ed., Visualizing the Tragic: drama, myth, and ritual in Greek art and literature, essays in honour of Froma Zeitlin, (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
, - Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 141 (illus.)
- L. Giuliani and G. W. Most, "Medea in Eleusis, in Princeton," in C. Krause et al. eds., Visualizing the tragic: drama, myth, and ritual in Greek art and literature: essays in honour of Froma Zeitlin, (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007)., p. 197-217
- Mary Louise, The art of ancient Greek theater, (Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010)., p. 76; cat. no. 30
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), pg. 308
