On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Red-figure volute krater: Medea at Eleusis,
ca. 340–330 BCE
Attributed to the Darius Painter, South Italian, Apulian, active ca. 340-330 BCE
South Italian, Apulian
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
Red-figure volute krater: Medea at Eleusis
Dates
ca. 340–330 BCE
Maker
Attributed to the Darius Painter
Medium
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, 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
palmettes, deities, children (people by age group), flowers (plants), heroes, staffs (walking sticks), swans, slaves, scrollwork, satyrs, Ionic order, columns (architectural elements), volutes, mythology, men, paganism, shields (armor), helmets, bacchantes, figures (representations), temples, women, myrtle
Formerly in the collection of Henri Jacques, Switzerland; purchased by the Museum from Robin Symes in 1983.
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A.D. Trendall and Alexander Cambitoglou, First supplement to the Red-figured vases of Apulia, (London: University of London. Institute of Classical Studies, 1983).
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- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1983," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 43, no. 1 (1984): p. 18-42., p. 30
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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. 349
- 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
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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 - 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), p. 121
