COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.14.130.12
AMICA Library Year:
2002
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Description:
All major festivals in ancient Greece were dedicated to the gods. One of the best known is the Panathenaia, the annual celebration held in Athens to honor Athena in the first month of the Attic year, the summer month of Hekatombaion. In 566 B.C., festival officials reorganized the celebration to include athletic events. At about this time, potters created a special type of vase to hold the valuable olive oil awarded to the victor in each contest. A canonical example is this Panathenaic prize amphora by the Euphiletos Painter. The amphora holds a standard liquid measure of 38 to 39 liters (about 40 to 41 quarts). The decoration of all Panathenaic amphorae is always in the Attic black-figure technique, even long after that method was superseded, in the late sixth century B.C., by the more expressive red-figure technique. The figural decoration is set in panels. Above the panel on the obverse of this vase is the typical frieze of alternating red and black tongues. On this side, Athena strides to the left between two columns surmounted by cocks, and an inscription alongside the left column informs the viewer that the vase was awarded as a prize ("from the Games at Athens"). On the reverse is a representation of the footrace, one of the earliest known events in the Panathenaic games, and the game for which this vase was awarded.
Creator Name:
Euphiletos Painter
Creator Nationality:
European; Southern European; Greek; Athenian
Creator Name-CRT:
Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter
Title:
Panathenaic prize amphora
View:
Principal view
Creation Date:
ca. 530?520 B.C.
Creation Start Date:
-2
Creation End Date:
2
Materials and Techniques:
Terracotta
Style or Period:
Black-figure
Dimensions:
H. 24 1/2 in. (62.2 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York
ID Number:
14.130.12
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1914
Copyright:
Copyright ? 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.h1_14.130.12.tif
