Belly amphora of the Nessus Painter (Berlin 1961.7)

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Large abdominal amphora by the Nessus painter, attic around 610–600 BC BC, pair of griffins on both sides of a palmette tree with an owl, above a pair of panthers on the neck

The belly amphora of the Nessos painter with the inventory number 1961.7 in the Antikensammlung Berlin is a large grave vase that was decorated in black-figure style by an Attic vase painter with the emergency name Nessos painter . This abdominal amphora shows two griffins facing each other in the main picture , an extremely rare decoration for this type of vessel. The vase is one of the first painted abdominal amphorae and one of the few works that can be safely attributed to the Nessos painter, the first vase painter of the Attic black-figure style. It is in the period around 610-600 BC. Dated.

Origin and storage

Presentation of the vase in the line up in Berlin until 2010, amphora of the Nessos painter on the left, view from the side

The exact origin of the vase is not known; it is certain that it was found in Attica. The circumstances of the find have also not been clarified. It was acquired in 1961 by the West Berlin Antikensammlung from a private collection in Vienna. It was initially exhibited in the collection building across from Charlottenburg Palace; since 2001 it has been in room 1 of the main floor of the Altes Museum .

Shape, size and preservation

It is an unusually large specimen of this vase shape with a height of 79 cm and a maximum belly diameter of 54.5 cm. The base is 26.3 cm in diameter and the lip is 30.5 to 31 cm in diameter. The base has a conical shape, the flat, broad lip is echinus shape . The handles have an oval cross-section. The neck is unusual in its cylindrical shape.

The vase was assembled from several large pieces. The bottom was broken off , but the vase was patched with four lead staples as early as ancient times . During the modern restoration, the few missing shards were deliberately made visible for the beholder. The surface is badly worn and bumped in several places. In addition, numerous lime deposits have affected the surface of the vessel. At one point, on the neck of the griffin depiction on the left , the wall of the vessel is slightly dented.

The vase is one of the oldest and first figuratively painted abdominal amphorae. The type of decoration speaks in favor of assigning the vase as a grave vase. So it was very likely that it was a mark on a grave.

presentation

Only one side of the amphora was figuratively decorated, the back is completely varnished black . Such a separation is not uncommon in grave vases of this time. The dividing line between the front and back runs from top to bottom on the handle axis. The varnish extends about two centimeters on the inside in the mouth area of ​​the vessel. On the outside, the black varnish extends over the neck in a narrow strip. The lower edge of the foot is left with a clay background. The ray frieze on the underside of the vase does not begin directly above the foot, but only above a wider black base zone. In a frieze with slices rosettes painted. The front of the vascular abdomen is taken up by a large field of view. Above this is a neck painting, separated from the main picture by only a narrow line of varnish. The lateral delimitation between the front and the rear cannot be seen in the front view. The varnish is only applied very thinly, especially in the two upper thirds of the back of the amphora. It is possible that the image fields corresponding to the front were covered here. The varnish is discolored reddish-brown in several places. There are also remains of a whitish coating on the clay background. There are hardly any red paint residues left, they are mainly found on the disc palmettes , on the griffins and on the panthers. The incised lines for the internal drawings of the figures and decorative elements were sometimes very finely executed by the artist, for example on the griffin paws. Important lines were scratched twice. It seems as if both griffins were planned with different strengths from the start. Later splintering increases this impression even more.

Detail of the right griffin. The interior drawings are easy to recognize, including double incised lines, for example on the upper wing line, as well as the many small chalk fragments, the teeth in the beak, the ornamental rosettes that are arranged around a center, and the zigzag line between the head and wing tip. There is also a red paint residue on the panther's belly at the upper edge.

The main picture shows two large griffins with particularly large paws. The two griffins are shown seated opposite each other, the right figure being better preserved than its counterpart on the left. In the middle there is a small palmette tree with an owl sitting on it. Both griffins have torn their beaks, showing their teeth. The sharp canines in particular stand out. The structure of the lower jaw is reminiscent of that of a lion. The tip of the tongue is still preserved in the left grasping. A part of the forehead above the eyes of both griffins has been rubbed off, it is unclear whether there was a low forehead knob, but the brow arches are visible. The thin tails have a horizontal line just before their end. The trunk of the palmette tree tapers upwards and finally separates into two parts that protrude diagonally downwards. A large flower opens over the volutes . It is divided into a double wreath with trumpet-shaped leaves. The owl has tilted its head a little to the front. Large, multi-leaf rosettes with a core and small six-leaf specimens are distributed symmetrically between the two figures as scattered ornaments. A zigzag line between the head and wings is painted between the two griffins.

The neck picture shows two panthers lying opposite each other , whereby the belly picture is repeated in a different form. The tails of the two animals come out from under the thigh. As with the griffins, the tip of the tail is marked by a horizontal line. The scattered ornaments also correspond to those of the main picture, so the zigzag lines can be found again above the heads.

Two griffin protomes originally attached to copper kettles as ornaments; Bronze; 7th century BC Chr .; National Archaeological Museum of Athens

Griffins are very rare in the black-figure vase painting of Attica. Two other early Attic vases are known, another Lekanis by the Nessos painter, which is the only vase also showing a griffin in full figure within an animal frieze, the François vase and two bowls on which an arimasp is fighting with a griffin. The griffins on the Berlin amphora differ from the simultaneous griffin protomes . They have ancient features, such as the spiral curls, the sloping throat ridges, the compact shape or the beak that is torn open at right angles. The toothing, which is otherwise only known from the François vase, is unusual. The griffin heads of a gold earring found on Melos , which is now also in the Berlin Collection of Antiquities, are particularly similar . The depiction of griffins on a grave vase was obvious, as griffins were considered grave guards.

allocation

Nessos amphora ; Attic black-figure amphora (name vase) by the Nessus painter; after Perseus (not visible) beheaded Medusa , she lies dying on the ground while her sisters Sthele and Euryale pursue Perseus in flight over the sea. The neck painting shows Heracles and Nessus; found on Piraeus Street in Athens; around 620/610 BC Chr .; National Archaeological Museum of Athens, inventory number 1002

In John D. Beazley painter lists this vase does not occur. In addition to a few minor remarks in the 1960s after purchasing the amphora, Karl Kübler assigned the vessel to the area around the Nessos painter due to the similarities in the ornaments . The Nessos painter is considered to be the first Attic painter personality of the black-figure style who had developed his own profile. Its eponymous piece is the so-called Nessos amphora , which is now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens . On the neck of this image is Amphora Heracles depicted as the centaur Nessus kills. Kübler assumed only four works that could be assigned to the vase painter with certainty. Other researchers such as Christa Vogelpohl, John Boardman and Heide Mommsen go one step further and assign the Berlin vase as well as other pieces to the hand of the Nessos painter. Stylistic similarities with other reliable works of the painter leave little doubt as to the attribution of the Griffin amphora. Particularly striking is the correspondence of the thick lion paws with their rounded knuckles and the claws bent under the paws with the images on a Lekanis from Vari, which is ascribed to the artist . The owl is also reminiscent of other works by the painter. Cross lines at the end of the tails are unique to the Nessos Painter. Clear correspondences can also be made with the Nessos amphora. The wings are rolled up with their blunt ends in the same way as the gorgon wings on the name vase . The incisions on the wings also match. The noses of the panthers and the gorgons represent a third match. A black varnish cover on the back is only available in this form on these two vases.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The description follows Heide Mommsen: Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Germany 45th Berlin 5 . CH Beck, Munich 1980, pp. 11-12.
  2. ↑ on the history of finds and acquisitions see Mommsen
  3. ^ Karl Kübler: Kerameikos VI, 2 . De Gruyter, Berlin 1970, p. 155f.
  4. ↑ See Ulf Jantzen : Greek Greifenkessel . Mann, Berlin 1955.
  5. ^ On this Adolf Greifenhagen : Schmuckarbeiten in Edelmetall II , 1975, plate 38, 7–8.
  6. ↑ For gripping as grave guards see Ingeborg flag : Investigations on the meaning of gripping . Richarz, Sankt Augustin 1975, ISBN 3-921255-07-4 .
  7. ^ Karl Kübler: Kerameikos VI, 2 . De Gruyter, Berlin 1970, pp. 155-156.
  8. ↑ On the ornamentation of the Greek vases of the seventh century BC Chr . Munich 1968 (dissertation).
  9. ^ John Boardman: Black-Figure Vases from Athens. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1977, p. 17.
  10. ↑ John D. Beazley: Paralipomena . Oxford 1971, number 4
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 5, 2008 .