3.

Provenance

By 1968–83, Walter and Molly Bareiss (Bareiss numbers 307 a and 307 b; an inventory card for the vase references a letter dated February 14, 1968); 1983–86, the Mary S. Bareiss 1983 Trust; 1986, sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Shape and Ornament

Two non-joining fragments of shoulder and body with base of handle at left of 86.AE.211.2. Figural decoration on the body set in panel framed by a double row of ivy leaves between black lines at the sides. Trace of tongue pattern around the handle root. Interior black.

Subject

Charioteer mounting quadriga. Given the feline, the sacred animal of Dionysos, probably a Dionysiac scene.

86.AE.211.1 (on right of image) preserves the forepart of a quadriga with standing horses facing right. Forepart of a spotted feline stands facing left at right. Preserved mouth of a horse, maybe looking at the feline. Breast bands and reins on the horses.

86.AE.211.2 (on left of image) preserves the rear of a charioteer facing right. He leans forward to mount the quadriga and is dressed in a chiton and himation. Part of his kentron (goad) is preserved against his himation.

Attribution and Date

Attributed to Near the Eucharides Painter by J. R. Guy. Circa 480 B.C.

Dimensions and Condition

86.AE.211.1: Maximum preserved dimension 15.4 cm. 86.AE.211.2: Maximum preserved dimension 11.2 cm. Glaze pitted in places inside.

Technical Features

Preliminary sketch. Relief contour. Dilute glaze: muscles of horses, folds of chiton.

Bibliography

“Acquisitions/1986,” Abbreviation: GettyMusJThe J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 15 (1987): 160–61, no. 7.

Comparanda

For the feline, cf. that on a column-krater attributed by Beazley to the manner of Myson, though with some similarities to the Eucharides Painter: Berlin, Antikensammlungen 31404 (Abbreviation: ARV²J. D. Beazley. Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1963 243.4; Abbreviation: Beazley Addenda²Beazley Addenda: Additional References to ABV, ARV² & Paralipomena. 2nd ed. Compiled by T. H. Carpenter with T. Mannack and M. Mendonça. Oxford, 1989 202; A. Ashmead, “Greek Cats: Exotic Pets Kept by Rich Youths in Fifth-Century BC Athens as Portrayed on Greek Vases,” Expedition 20, no. 3 [1978]: 42, fig. 9; Abbreviation: CVACorpus Vasorum Antiquorum Berlin, Antikensammlung 11 [Germany 86], pl. 5). L. Berge challenged Beazley’s attribution to the manner of Myson and suggested the Eucharides Painter, as I was informed by Dr. E. Langridge-Noti, who also believes that this krater could be attributed to or closely related to the Eucharides Painter.

The charioteer could be female: See Abbreviation: Manakidou, Parastaseis me armataE. Manakidou. Parastaseis me armata (8.–5. ai. P. Ch.): Paratērēseis stēn eikonographia tous. Thessaloniki, 1994, passim. In this case, she should be a goddess or an Amazon. The feline, however, gives a Dionysiac flavor to the scene. Possibly Dionysos stands next to the feline, receiving the chariot, although this is not common. Cf. the pelike by the Painter of Tarquinia 707 in Brussels, M. Royaux R 235 (Abbreviation: ARV²J. D. Beazley. Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1963 1121.11, 1703; Abbreviation: Manakidou, Parastaseis me armataE. Manakidou. Parastaseis me armata (8.–5. ai. P. Ch.): Paratērēseis stēn eikonographia tous. Thessaloniki, 1994, pl. 36). For Dionysos in chariot scenes, see Abbreviation: Manakidou, Parastaseis me armataE. Manakidou. Parastaseis me armata (8.–5. ai. P. Ch.): Paratērēseis stēn eikonographia tous. Thessaloniki, 1994, pp. 178–93; C. Gaspari, in Abbreviation: LIMCLexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae. 1981–2009, vol. 3 (1986), pt. 1, pp. 461–62, s.v. “Dionysos.”

The feline is the sacred animal of Dionysos and often appears next to the god on red-figure vases. Cf. the feline next to the mounted Dionysos on a column-krater by the Flying-Angel Painter in Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum 11068 (Abbreviation: ParalipomenaJ. D. Beazley. Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters and to Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters. Oxford, 1971 354.39 quater; Abbreviation: Beazley Addenda²Beazley Addenda: Additional References to ABV, ARV² & Paralipomena. 2nd ed. Compiled by T. H. Carpenter with T. Mannack and M. Mendonça. Oxford, 1989 208; J. M. Padgett, “The Stable Hands of Dionysos: Satyrs and Donkeys as Symbols of Social Marginalization in Attic Vase Painting,” in Abbreviation: Not the Classical IdealNot the Classical Ideal: Athens and the Construction of the Other in Greek Art. Edited by B. Cohen. Leiden, 2000, p. 53, fig. 2.3); also the pelike by the Matsch Painter in Rome, Villa Giulia 48238 (Abbreviation: ARV²J. D. Beazley. Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1963 284.1; Abbreviation: CVACorpus Vasorum Antiquorum Rome, Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia 4 [Italy 64], pl. 22.2), with a feline next to Dionysos in a libation scene.

In black-figure, felines are found in Gigantomachies. For the feline as a Dionysian attribute, see Abbreviation: Carpenter, Dionysian Imagery in Archaic Greek ArtT. H. Carpenter. Dionysian Imagery in Archaic Greek Art: Its Development in Black-Figure Vase Painting. Oxford, 1985, pp. 55–75, 125; Abbreviation: Schöne, ThiasosA. Schöne. Der Thiasos: Eine ikonographische Untersuchung über das Gefolge des Dionysos in der attischen Vasenmalerei des 6. und 5. Jhs. v. Chr. Göteborg, 1987, pp. 107; Abbreviation: Manakidou, Parastaseis me armataE. Manakidou. Parastaseis me armata (8.–5. ai. P. Ch.): Paratērēseis stēn eikonographia tous. Thessaloniki, 1994, pp. 179, 185. According to Nonnos (Dionysiaca 40.40–56), the god was transformed into a panther. See also Ashmead, “Greek Cats” (supra), pp. 38–47; M. Iozzo, “The Dog: A Dionysiac Animal?,” Rivista di archeologia 36, 2012 (2013): 5–22.

For the harnessing of a chariot, see J. Spruyette, Early Harness Systems: Experimental Studies; A Contribution to the History of the Horse, trans. from French by M. A. Littauer (London, 1983); M. B. Moore, “A New Hydria by the Antimenes Painter,” Abbreviation: MMAJMetropolitan Museum of Art Journal 18 (1983): 29–38; idem, “Horse Care as Depicted on Greek Vases before 400 B.C.,” Abbreviation: MMAJMetropolitan Museum of Art Journal 39 (2004): 35–67.