Ancient Greek Ceramic Oinochoe with Eros and Aphrodite. TL Test inclu. 4th century BC. 34 cm Height. Attributed to the

Oinochoe with Eros and Aphrodite.

- Attributed to the painter of Python or Asteas -

- Thermoluminescense Test -

Ancient Greece, Magna Grecia, Paestum, 4th century BC.

Ceramic.

34 cm height.

PROVENANCE:

- Auction House. Switzerland.

- Asfar Brothers, Beirut. Attached is a copy of gallery documentation dated November 12, 1975.

- Private collection, Zurich, acquired from the previous one in 1975.

CONDITION: Good condition, intact, except for a slight dent on the lip of the restored centimeter-long base.

DESCRIPTION:

Oinochoe from Paestum, Magna Graecia, attributed to Python, one of the two great Paestan red-figure painters, along with Asteas, with whom he shared a workshop. It has an ovoid body joined by a relatively high neck to a tri-lobed mouth. It has a discoidal foot and a vertical handle in the form of a flat ribbon with a central rib, which ends at the base of the mouth. The oinochoe is a type of Greek vessel used to remove wine from the crater, where it has been watered, before serving. It is a jug with a single vertical handle, and in its most distinctive form it has a trilobed mouth that allows the liquid to be poured in a controlled manner. This is not one of the usual forms from the Asteas and Pitón workshop, although some examples are known (fig. 1).

It is decorated with the red-figure technique, including various details enhanced in black, red, ochre and white pigments. The expressive and delicate lines representing the anatomical details, executed in black pigment with a slight relief, also stand out. The front shows a figurative scene depicting a seated lady in profile to her right with her torso facing the front, wearing a chiton with a dark vertical band across her chest, her legs wrapped in a cloak also decorated in black in the profiles. Her hair is tied back in a bun at the nape of her neck, she wears a pearl headband and necklace, dangling earrings and spiral bracelets on both arms, as well as decorated slippers. She is seated on a vegetal motif in the form of a double scroll, and holds a red ribbon or taenia in her right hand. Her clothing is very similar to that of the lady who adorns the back of a Python krater in the Louvre, both in the embroidery of the fabrics and in the detail of the cloak covering her legs, and even in the slippers (fig. 2). In front of her, Eros is depicted as a winged child adorned with pearls, rising above the ground and holding a phiale and a mirror before her, in which the lady gazes at her image. The appearance of Eros makes it possible to identify the lady with Aphrodite, since the iconography of the two together, with the goddess before her son, holding a mirror, is recurrent in classical Greek art (fig. 3).

Flanking the composition on either side are two juvenile male figures. On the left side of the composition we see a beardless, long-haired boy, probably a young satyr, naked except for the himation that falls from his left shoulder, crowned with leaves and adorned with pearls that cross his torso and encircle his right thigh. He also wears bracelets on his right leg and arm. He is supported on vegetal scrolls, without touching the ground, resting his left hand on a thin rod and raising a floral wreath with his right hand, in the direction of the lady. On the opposite side we see another boy of similar appearance, identified with Dionysus by the thyrsus he holds in his right hand. In his left hand he holds a ribbon similar to that of the female figure. He is also nude, his sex covered by a cloak that is draped over his left shoulder and falls down his back, and he is adorned with pearls and bracelets and a crown of leaves that encircles his long, curly hair. In this case, the figure is placed on white-dotted waves, probably representing a watercourse. There is a highly original element in this figure: the left foot is represented frontally, foreshortened, and not in profile as is usual. A kylix by Python with a very similar representation of Dionysus is preserved in Paris (fig. 4).

Between the figures are plant elements arranged vertically, evoking the vegetation of a natural environment. The scene is enclosed on both sides by bands containing rows of triangular motifs, a schematization of a plant garland. On the reverse of the oinochoe, large palmettes are depicted forming an elegant symmetrical composition, from which emerges the laurel frieze that adorns the outside of the handle. Running around the entire diameter of the piece at the bottom is a frieze of sea waves oriented towards the left. The neck is decorated with laurel leaves arranged around a central rosette, highlighted with white pigment. The rest of the piece - base of the tank, foot, neck and mouth - is covered with the black varnish that serves as a background to the figurative scene. The use of laurel wreaths, friezes of sea waves and large palmettes for the secondary areas is a constant in the works of the workshop of Asteas and Pitón (fig. 5).

Python (c. 360-340 BC) was the most important red-figure painter at Paestum, together with Asteas (c. 360-340), the founder of the workshop they both directed together. His workshop was particularly important for the quantity and quality of its output. Asteas and Python were painters of great artistic and technical skill, and together they established the stylistic canon of Paestum ceramics with red figures, which remained largely unchanged until their demise.

Python developed a style of expressive, dynamic line, meticulous and delicate in description, and often used white, black, yellow and red pigments to enhance the details of his compositions. The canon of his figures is less stylised than that of Asteas, with larger heads and thicker, shorter limbs, as can be seen in the study piece. Although he shares with Asteas typical details of his workshop such as the dotted line that borders the clothing or the vegetal scrolls as a seat or support for the figures, his work is characterised by characteristic elements such as the seated position with one leg slightly in front of the other. In his frequent Dionysian scenes the god always appears in his youthful form, with long, curly, flowing hair, adorned with a crown of ivy, holding a thyrsus and generally accompanied by satyrs or maenads. Almost all of the Python vases have been found in burial chambers at Paestum, where the theme of the young Dionysos bestowing immortality responds to the desire for a happy existence in the Afterlife.

The town of Paestum in Campania was the centre of one of the five schools of red-figure pottery in southern Italy. It was started by craftsmen from Sicily around 360 BC, making it the last of the Magna Graecia styles to develop. The first workshop founded in the city was that of Asteas and Pythias, where this oinochoe was made. These artists are the only vase painters in southern Italy known from the inscriptions on their pieces, and they painted mainly large-format pieces: craters, amphorae, hydrias, gamic leves, lekanos and lecithos. Their style had a great influence on the Paestum school, and in fact the second workshop in the city, founded around 330, closely followed their models. However, Paestum pottery production was soon to show a clear decline in quality and variety of motifs, and by the year 300, production had completely disappeared.

Paestan pottery is characterised by certain specific ornamental elements that are repeated: lateral palmettes, friezes of tendrils with calyxes and wreaths (‘flower of Asteas’), crests on garments and figures with loose curly hair, often leaning forward while resting on plants or rocks. The use of additional colours such as white, ochre, black, purple and gradations of red would also be common on these vessels. In terms of the subject matter depicted, Dionysian scenes, especially thioses and symposia, predominated in these Paestum vases, and Aphrodite and Eros, Apollo, Athena and Hermes were also frequently depicted.

Red-figured pottery was one of the most important figurative styles of Greek production. It was developed in Athens around 530 BC, and was used until the 3rd century BC. It replaced the previous predominant style of black-figure pottery within a few decades. The technical basis was the same in both cases, but in the red figures the colouring is inverted, with the figures highlighted against a dark background, as if illuminated by a theatrical light, following a more natural pattern. Painters working with black figures were forced to keep the motifs well separated from each other and to limit the complexity of the illustration. The red-figure technique, on the other hand, allowed greater freedom. Each figure was silhouetted against a black background, allowing the painters to portray anatomical details with greater accuracy and variety.

The technique consisted of painting the motifs on the still-wet piece, using a transparent varnish which, when fired, took on an intense black hue. The motifs were therefore invisible before firing, which meant that the painters had to work entirely from memory, unable to see their previous work. Once the piece was fired, the unglazed areas remained with the reddish hue of the clay, while the glazed, ‘painted’ areas took on a dense, glossy black colour.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Paris: Union Académique Internationale, www.cvaonline.org
- BOARDMAN, J. The History of Greek Vases: Potters, Painters, Pictures. Thames & Hudson. 2001.
- DENOYELLE, M.; IOZZO, M. La céramique grecque d’Italie Méridionale et de Sicile. A. J. Picard. 2009.
- HURSCHMANN, R. “Paestanische Vasenmalerei”, en Der Neue Pauly, vol. 9. Metzler Verlag. 2000.
- MAYO, M. (ed.). The Art of South Italy, Vases from Magna Graecia. Richmond. 1982.
- TRENDALL, A. D. The Red-Figured Vases of Paestum. British School at Rome. 1987.
- TRENDALL, A.D. Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily. Thames and Hudson. 1989.

PARALLELS:

Fig. 1 Oinochoe with Dionysos, attributed to Asteas or Pythias. Paestum, Magna Graecia, ca. 360-350 BC. Red-figured pottery. National Museum, Cardiff, inv. 20.532/1.

Fig. 2 Crater with Hermes and lady, attributed to Python. Paestum, Magna Graecia, ca. 360-350 BC. Red-figure pottery. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. ED 126; N 2823; K 238.

Fig. 3 Amphora with Eros and Aphrodite, attributed to Python. Paestum, Magna Graecia, ca. 360-350 BC. Red-figured pottery. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. Cp 788: K 301.

Fig. 4 Kylix with Dionysos, attributed to Python. Paestum, Magna Graecia, ca. 360-350 BC. Red-figured pottery. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. N 3424; K 364.

Fig. 5 Bell crater with Dionysos and a satyr, attributed to Asteas. Paestum, Magna Graecia, ca. 360-350 BC. Red-figured pottery. Metropolitan Museum, New York, inv. 62.11.3.








Notes:

- The piece includes authenticity certificate.
- The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested, can take between 1-2 weeks maximum.
- The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.