Sosias bowl
The Sosias bowl , a kylix (drinking bowl) by the potter Sosias , is one of the most important pieces in the antique ceramics collection in Berlin . The work of Attic red-figure vase painting belongs to the pioneering days of this style and is around the year 500 BC. Dated.
The drinking bowl is best known for its interior ( tondo ). It shows (right) the greatest hero of the Greeks of the Trojan War , Achilles , while he is bandaging the arm of his injured friend Patroclus (left). The identification of the figures is unequivocally secured by inscriptions (PATROKLOS; AXLLEUS). The drawing is extremely detailed and, in addition to the actual plot, also subtly shows several allusions to the future of both heroes. The bowl is ten centimeters high and has a diameter of 32 centimeters, the inner image diameter is 18 centimeters.
Patroclus turns away from his friend and helper in pain. The white color of the teeth indicates that he is clenching his teeth in pain. The band with which Achilles connects Patroclus' left arm is also highlighted in white. Because of this and because of its central positioning, it is the eye-catcher of the picture. The aspect of friendship and love for one's neighbor thus comes to the fore despite the suffering shown and the ominous signs. Both heroes appear to have come straight from the battle. Achilles is still in full gear, he has not yet taken off his helmet. Patroclus, on the other hand, lacks a helmet, he only has the protective cap that was supposed to cushion the metal helmet on his head. The armor's epaulets are open, a warrior would never go into battle in this condition. He also sits with his legs apart on his shield, so that the view of his gender is free, which also indicates the defenselessness and vulnerability of Patroclus. Unlike Achilles, who can be clearly identified as the younger of the friends, Patroclus has a short beard.
The design with the exposed gender belongs, like several other elements, to the allusions to the further fate of the two fighters. It is at this sensitive point where the Trojan fighter Hector Patroclus will later fatally hit. Another allusion to this fight is given by the shield. The sign, which cannot be fully recognized, is the large ring handle of a tripod cauldron . It is a symbol of Apollo , the oracle god of Delphi , who warned Achilles in a prophecy against intervening in the battle. The arrow on the left next to Patroclus and the shield also indicates Achilles' end by the arrow shot in the Achilles heel through Paris . What is striking is the contrast between the actually harmless injury and allusions to later fate.
The design of the eyes of the two figures is unique in vase painting. Unlike usual, they are not shown frontally, not even in the later lateral form, although they are a little too big. This makes them unusually natural for antique vase pictures. The eyes on the outside are shown in the usual shape.
The outside shows an incident from the life of the gods in a surrounding frieze, the introduction of the demigod Heracles by his half-siblings Hermes , Apollo and Athene . The other gods are gathered around Zeus and Hera and engaged in sacrificial acts: drink donations are poured onto the floor from richly decorated sacrificial bowls. They hardly seem to notice the arrival of the new god. The figures can also be identified on the outside by inscriptions [with additions]: AF [RODITH] ( Aphrodite ) and AR [ES] ( Ares ) on one side, ORAI ( Horai ), ESTIA ( Hestia ), AOFITRITE ( Amphitrite ), ERMES (Hermes), ARTEMIS ( Artemis ) on the other half. Another H probably stands for lift . There is a simple Kalos inscription KALOS between two of the figures . Next to Herakles there is the inscription ZEUFILE (Zeufile, "Beloved Zeus") for an exclamation from Heracles.
It is unclear whether the inside and outside are thematically related. On the one hand, it is mentioned that both pictures are indirectly related to death and thus thematically reinforce the later use of the bowl as a grave object. On the other hand, a homoerotic background is suspected in the interior image, which is an allusion to its use at the Attic symposia , where homoerotic events at that time may have corresponded to the conventions.
The Kylix was found in 1828 by the excavator Melchiade Fossati in the necropolis of Camposcala in Vulci and thus belongs to the large number of Attic ceramics exported to Etruria . Via the painter Eduard Magnus , the piece came to the Wilhelm Dorow Collection in Berlin in 1829 . In 1831 it was acquired for the Berlin collection along with several hundred other vases.
The signature of the potter Sosias is preserved at the foot of the bowl : SOSIAS EPOIESEN, Sosias made . The name of the painter has not been recorded. Possibly the painter and the potter are identical, but at that time an advanced division of labor between the two work steps was becoming apparent. That is why John D. Beazley gave the painter the emergency name Sosias painter based on this bowl, which is thus the name vase . This attribution is largely adopted by research, other attributions, such as Martha Ohly-Dumm to Euthymides or Martin Robertson to the Cleophrades Painter , could not prevail.
literature
- Adolf Greifenhagen : Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Germany 21, Berlin 2 , Pl. 49–51. 63, 3.
- Agnes Schwarzmaier , Martin Maischberger : drinking bowl of the potter Sosias . In: Andreas Scholl (Hrsg.): The antique collection: Altes Museum. Pergamon Museum , von Zabern, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-8053-2449-6 , pp. 70–71.
- Agnes Schwarmaier: Support among friends . In: Annika Backe-Dahmen , Ursula Kästner , Agnes Schwarzmaier: Of gods and people. Pictures on Greek vases , Wasmuth and Scala, Berlin and Tübingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8030-3331-4 , pp. 40–41. 124 (literature).
Remarks
- ↑ Inventory number F 2278.
