Preface
This CVA fascicule presents a selection of Attic red-figure kraters from the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. This volume contains the column- and volute-kraters, which range from 520 to 510 B.C. to the early fourth century B.C.; many are works of known potters and painters. Their presentation accords, in general, with the chronological sequence established by Sir John Beazley. The descriptions follow the format provided by the members of the American CVA Committee, and attributions made by other scholars are credited under the heading ATTRIBUTION AND DATE. These vases have come to the Museum from a variety of sources, mostly from the art market. A number were part of the collection of Walter and Molly Bareiss. The origin of the vases, along with their known histories, is provided under the heading PROVENANCE. The last version of the complete manuscript was delivered in late 2013. Since then, some new bibliographic references have appeared and are included in the entries. Additions to the bibliography were made until 2015, with a few more in 2016, 2017, and 2019.
The Getty Museum’s coral-red volute-krater (84.AE.974) is not included in this volume. Ever since its acquisition in 1984, it has regularly been published as an exceptional instance of the use of coral-red on a large scale,1 but in 2013, Dyfri Williams and Jasper Gaunt contacted the Getty Museum with serious concerns about the vase’s authenticity. Their doubts were manifold, spanning the application and use of coral-red, the potting of the vessel, its overall decorative scheme and subsidiary ornament, and many aspects of style and iconography. Williams and Gaunt will discuss their concerns in a forthcoming study.2 Technical examinations are still being undertaken and will be published as soon as completed, but all parties have agreed that it is inappropriate to include the krater in this CVA.
The preparation of this volume began years ago, when I was invited by Dr. Marion True, curator of antiquities at that time, to undertake this project. I would like to thank her for trusting me with the material and for all her support. I studied the vases during two short visits, the last in 2003. The members of the Museum’s Department of Antiquities, however, were always most helpful to me, and I thank them for that. Jens Daehner and Kenneth Lapatin assisted me in various ways during the earlier years of this project, while in recent years David Saunders has been of tremendous help and a great source of information; I am very grateful to him for everything that he has done. Jeffrey Maish shared with me the results of his analysis of the coral-red krater (84.AE.974) and provided the measurements for many of the kraters in this volume. Karol Wight, Claire Lyons, and Jeffrey Spier facilitated in various practical issues regarding this publication, and Judith Barr provided some new references on the kraters.
During the long process of preparing this CVA I was assisted also by many friends and colleagues in various ways. I thank Robert Guy for all his useful comments and for responding immediately to my attribution inquiries. Michael Padgett was always available to discuss any questions, and he provided a lot of information. Alan Shapiro furnished input and observations on iconography, while Michalis Tiverios made very constructive remarks on a much earlier version of this manuscript. I thank Jasper Gaunt, Ariel Hermann, An Jiang, Susan Matheson, Elizabeth Langridge Noti, and Dyfri Williams for photos, information, and discussions, and of course the CVA Committee—Guy Hedreen, Susan Matheson, Tyler Jo Smith, and John H. Oakley (chair)—for all their valuable comments, notes, and clarifications. They have contributed significantly to improving my manuscript. Any omissions or remaining errors are fully my responsibility.
And finally, I would like to thank my son Dimitris for his patience and support; this volume is dedicated to him.
- Abbreviation: BAPDBeazley Archive Pottery Database. http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk 16201; “Acquisitions/1984,” Abbreviation: GettyMusJThe J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 13 (1985): 170, no. 24; J. V. Noble, The Techniques of Painted Attic Pottery, 2nd ed. (New York, 1988), pl. 7; M. Pipili, in Abbreviation: LIMCLexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae. 1981–2009, vol. 5 (1990), pt. 1, p. 692, s.v. “Iolaos”; Abbreviation: Schleiffenbaum, VolutenkraterH. E. Schleiffenbaum. Der griechische Volutenkrater: Form, Funktion, und Sinngehalt eines antiken Prunkgefässes. Frankfurt, 1991, p. 368, no. V289; H. Froning, “La forma rappresentativa ciclica nell’arte classica,” in Coloquio sobre Teseo y la Copa de Aison, ed. R. Olmos (Madrid, 1992), pp. 139–41, figs. 10–12; A. Shapiro, Personifications in Greek Art: The Representation of Abstract Concepts, 600–400 B.C. (Zurich, 1993), pp. 150–51, fig. 109, and p. 254, no. 104 bis; Abbreviation: Getty Handbook of the Antiquities CollectionThe J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Antiquities Collection. Edited by K. Lapatin and K. Wight. Los Angeles, 2002 (1st ed.) and 2010 (2nd ed.), p. 73; Abbreviation: Gaunt, “Attic Volute Krater,”J. Gaunt. “The Attic Volute Krater.” Ph.D. diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2002 p. 531, cat. no. 52; Abbreviation: Colors of ClayB. Cohen, with contributions by Susan Lansing-Maish et al. The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases. Exh. cat. The J. Paul Getty Villa, Malibu, June–September 2006. Los Angeles, 2006, pp. 66–68, cat. no. 13, figs. 13.1–13.3; I. Kader, “Und es losten die Glieder … Hypnos, Thanatos, Eros,” in Süßer Schlummer: Der Schlaf in der Kunst; Residenzgalerie Salzburg, 15.7.–1.11.2006, ed. E. Oehring (Salzburg, 2006), p. 16, fig. 2; Abbreviation: Special Techniques in Athenian VasesPapers on Special Techniques in Athenian Vases: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Connection with the Exhibition The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases, at the Getty Villa, June 15–17, 2006. Edited by K. Lapatin. Los Angeles, 2008, p. xiii; B. Sparkes, “Why Special Techniques?,” in Abbreviation: Special Techniques in Athenian VasesPapers on Special Techniques in Athenian Vases: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Connection with the Exhibition The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases, at the Getty Villa, June 15–17, 2006. Edited by K. Lapatin. Los Angeles, 2008, p. 25; M. S. Walton et al., “A Preliminary Investigation of Coral-Red Glosses Found on Attic Greek Pottery,” in Abbreviation: Special Techniques in Athenian VasesPapers on Special Techniques in Athenian Vases: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Connection with the Exhibition The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases, at the Getty Villa, June 15–17, 2006. Edited by K. Lapatin. Los Angeles, 2008, p. 97, table 1 (incorrectly cited as 89.AE.974); M. S. Walton et al., “Characterization of Coral Red Slips on Greek Attic Pottery,” Archaeometry 51, no. 3 (2009): 383–96; A. Cohen, Art in the Era of Alexander the Great: Paradigms of Manhood and Their Cultural Traditions (New York, 2010), pp. 35, 37, 107, pls. 5, 7, 47; J. H. Oakley, The Greek Vase: Art of the Storyteller (Los Angeles, 2013), pp. 66–67, figs. 2–4; J. M. Padgett, “The Serpent in the Garden: Herakles, Ladon, and the Hydra,” in Approaching the Ancient Artifact: Representation, Narrative, and Function; A Festschrift in Honor of H. Alan Shapiro, ed. A. Avramidou and D. Demetriou (Berlin and Boston, 2014), pp. 49–50, note 19; C. C. Mattusch, Enduring Bronze: Ancient Art, Modern Views (Los Angeles, 2014), pp. 76–77, fig. 56. ↩
- Forthcoming: “Corrupting the Past: Forged Greek Pottery from the Late Eighteenth Century to the Case of the Coral-Red Volute-Krater in Malibu and the Falsification of Thermoluminescence Readings.” ↩