Arkesilas bowl
As arkesilas cup is a cup of laconic Arkesilas Painter designated. It shows the Cyrenian King Arkesilaos II as an eponymous element and is dated to around 565/60 BC. Dated.
The bowl was found in Vulci , is now in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris and has the inventory number 189. Arkesilaos sits under a tarpaulin and wears an African hat. Because of this presentation and another bowl by the Arkesilas painter, who was named after this vase, who shows the nymph Cyrene wrestling with a lion, the Arkesilas painter was initially incorrectly located in Africa. Later finds, however, showed him to be a Laconian. Arkesilaos observes seven workers as they pack, weigh, stack and load goods. The functions of the workers as well as the name of the Arkesilaos are identified by inscriptions . The interpretation of what is being loaded is unclear. Some researchers believe that it is Silphion , for which Arkesilaos had the trade monopoly. The supervisory attitude would also speak for this. The shape of the shopping baskets, however, speaks in favor of wool. Several African animals illustrate the scene in the picture.
The picture is unique in its type and motif in ancient art. On the one hand, the depiction of such current motifs in vase painting is extremely rare and unusual. Pictures of Arkesilaos II are also rare, as are such representations from working life. For the history of technology, the scale is important, its structure and use is shown. Historically, such a picture in Laconia is evidence of the close ties between Sparta and North Africa. The other vase with the nymph Cyrene, the other example from vase painting with references to North Africa, was found on Samos , another Spartan ally.
literature
- John Boardman : Early Greek Vase Painting. 11th to 6th Century BC. A handbook. Thames and Hudson, London 1998 (World of Art), pp. 185-188, ISBN 0-500-20309-1 .
- Thomas Mannack : Greek vase painting. An introduction . Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, pp. 125-128, ISBN 3-8062-1743-2 .
- Barbara Patzek : Arkesilaos II. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 2, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01472-X , column 5 f.
- Matthias Steinhart : Arkesilas painter. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 2, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01472-X , Sp. 8.