Kylix of the Providence Painter (Heidelberg 57/8)
With the Kylix des Providence Painter (inventory number 57/8), the Museum of Antiquities at Heidelberg University has a central work by the early classical Providence Painter .
What is rather unusual about this 8.2 centimeter high and 20.7 centimeter diameter drinking bowl is that it has no painting on the outside, but only a black glossy coating as jewelry. Thus, the entire representation is concentrated on the red-figure tondo inside the bowl. This is framed with a meander and six irregularly spaced cross plates. Motifs from the symposium for which such drinking vessels were used are not uncommon, but what is unusual is that the central image shows a rather uninvolved participant, namely a young cupbearer . So that he can do his job, he has wrapped his coat around his waist. In front of him there is a pointed amphora in a stand - the unmixed wine was stored in this. Because the consumption of undiluted wine was frowned upon in ancient Greece, this was extended in large mixing vessels with water. Such a mixing vessel, a large, almost oversized crater , stands behind him. In his left hand he holds a small jug , in which the mixed wine was served, which he put into the bowl in his right hand. He wears a wreath on his head, which was also part of symposia. A red inscription on the black background, which has meanwhile faded, is very likely referring to the boy : ancient Greek ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ ΚΑΛΟΣ - the boy is beautiful . A statement often related to boys and young men in antique vases. A second still legible inscription on the crater is ancient Greek ΚΑΛΕ - the Beautiful . In this context, such an inscription can only refer to hetaerae or other entertainers or female prostitutes present at symposia , whereby the boundaries between these professional groups were often blurred.
The Kylix is in the period around 470/60 BC. Dated a little later to the middle of the century. It was made from finely padded Attic clay. The coating consists of the finest black gloss. It has been handed down in several fragments and has been slightly supplemented in several places. The shell image is shifted in comparison to the axis of the shell running from handle to handle, which is due to the posture during the symposium, where one was lying on Klinen . Thus, the picture could bring joy to the viewer with a slightly rotated posture without twisting.
literature
- Roland Hampe , Hildegund Gropengiesser : From the collection of the Archaeological Institute of Heidelberg University. (= Works of art in Heidelberg . Volume 2). Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 1967, pp. 58, 106, plate 23.
- Erika Simon : Bowl of the Providence Painter. In: Roland Hampe and coworkers: New acquisitions 1957 - 1970. (= catalog of the collection of ancient cabaret of the Archaeological Institute of Heidelberg University, Volume 2), Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1971, p. 46.