Euphronios Krater

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The Euphronios Krater
Front side depicting Sarpedon’s body carried by Hypnos and Thanatos (Sleep and Death), while Hermes watches

The Euphronios Krater (or Sarpedon Krater) is an

Ancient Greek vases in existence.[1]

Illegally excavated from an Etruscan cemetery near

repatriated to Italy under an agreement negotiated in February 2006. It is now in the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Cerveteri [it] as part of a policy of returning stolen works of art to their place of origin.[2][3]

Description

The Euphronios Krater stands 45.7 cm (18 inches) in height and has a diameter of 55.1 cm (21.7 inches). It can hold about 45 L (12 gallons). The style of the vase is red-figure pottery, in which figure outlines, details, and the background are painted with an opaque black slip while the figures themselves are left in the color of the unpainted terracotta ceramic clay. [citation needed]

Reverse side depicting Athenian youths arming themselves

The krater is decorated with two scenes.

late Archaic painters, of whom Euphronios is considered the most accomplished.[citation needed
] The scene of the anonymous Greek youths on the reverse shares this naturalistic style, using all the Pioneer Group's characteristic techniques of anatomical accuracy, natural poses, foreshortening, and spatial illusion.

Also characteristic of the Pioneer Group is the narrative tension created both by pairing these two scenes on the same piece, and by painting them in a common style.[citation needed] The death of Sarpedon, a quasi-mythological story which would be familiar to anyone viewing the krater, is an episode involving specific historical and mythological figures. The other scene, of the anonymous youths preparing for war, is both more general and explicitly contemporary. The young men are not heroes of legend; with their finely detailed features, they are given personality and character, but they could be any of the youthful soldiers in the Greek army. Both scenes are painted with similar styles, making the historical scene appear more contemporary; likewise, the contemporary scene begins to share some of the other's mythological qualities. The two scenes invite comparison between the narratives they depict; certainly, the hero Sarpedon was no less youthful than these anonymous boys, and Death and Sleep may well come for them as they did for him.[original research?]

The vase is signed both by Euxitheos as potter and Euphronios as painter. While it was customary for the painter to sign the finished work, it was less common for the potter to add his own name. The presence of both signatures indicates that Euxitheos felt the vase to be one of his finest works. Besides the artists' signatures on the obverse side, it also carries the inscription "Leagros is handsome." on the reverse. This inscription has allowed art historians to date the krater to approximately 520–510 BC, because at this time Leagros was considered the handsomest man in Greece.[citation needed] All names are written in Attic letters.

History

Detail

Records in Italian courts of an investigation indicate that the krater was

illicit antiquities, claimed to have acquired the krater from Dikran Sarrafian, a Lebanese dealer, whose family had been in possession of the piece since 1920. Evidence suggests that Hecht may have purchased the krater in 1972 from Giacomo Medici, an Italian dealer who was convicted of selling stolen art in 2005.[6] Hecht denied the charges.[7]

Thomas Hoving, director of the Met and the primary negotiator in the purchase, later said in his memoirs, Making the Mummies Dance, "An intact red-figured Greek vase of the early sixth century B.C. could only have been found in Etruscan territory in Italy, by illegal excavators".[8] To allay concerns, some six months after the krater was bought he prompted the Metropolitan Museum to send a private detective to Zurich in an endeavor to reinforce the cited Sarrafian provenance.[9]

In 2006, following the trial of

returned to Italy in exchange for long-term loans of other comparable objects owned by Italy. The krater remained on display at the Metropolitan Museum until January 2008, when it returned to Italy. It was unveiled in Rome on 18 January.[7] The krater was displayed at the Villa Giulia National Etruscan Museum in Rome from 2008–14 until it was moved as part of a temporary display in the Cerveteri Museum celebrating the UNESCO World Heritage Site affiliation for the necropolis at Banditaccia. Following the increase of attendance at the museum, the Cultural Heritage Minister, Dario Franceschini, has announced that the krater will remain at the Archaeological Museum of Cerveteri as part of a strategy of returning works of art to their place of origin.[3]

Details from the krater's obverse have been used as a book cover illustration. The Penguin Classics deluxe edition of Robert Fagles' English translation of the Iliad employs a close-up of Thanatos for its front cover, and a close-up of Sarpedon for its back cover.[10]

References

  1. ISBN 9780226666594
    .
  2. ^ Stokstad, Marilyn and Michael W. Cothren. Art History. Fourth Edition, vol. 1. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011. p119.
  3. ^ a b "Archeologia, Franceschini: 'Il cratere di Eufronio resta a Cerveteri'". la Repubblica (in Italian). 7 November 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  4. ISBN 978-0-521-32718-3
    .
  5. ISSN 0028-7369
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-58648-438-5
    .
  7. ^ a b Povoledo, Elisabetta, Ancient Vase Comes Home to a Hero’s Welcome. New York Times (19 January 2008).
  8. ISBN 978-0-671-88075-0
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-4094-6313-9
    .
  10. ISBN 9780140275360
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Euphronios krater in the National Archaeological Museum of Cerveteri.
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