DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8577#0064
HUH :TV • H
44
sense
THE EARLY CORINTHIAN ORIENTALIZING STYLE
. they are not uniform in style (since there is much variety of pattern and
filling ornament), a careful examination of the drawing shows that they
imply the same attitude of mind.
Two aryballoi of the 'lion group' (pi. 22, 1; 26, 4-5) bridge the gap between
the large and small vases, for they are by the same hand as the oinochoai
nos. 746-7, one of which is illustrated in pis. 24, 2; 26, 7: both are carefully
painted vases, and excellent illustrations of the best that the early Corinthian
period could produce.
It is easy to connect a number of larger vases with these; some, as we shall
see in discussing the external evidence for chronology (p. 55ff.), have been
found in the same graves as the small alabastra and aryballoi, but these are
a minority. In most cases we rely on the evidence of style and shape. There
are also a good many large alabastra and aryballoi: two of the most effective are
illustrated on pis. 18-20. By the first of these I show a detail of an oinochoe,
which obviously reflects the same point of view (cf. also fig. 12); by the
second, a fine fragment of an olpe, and a detail of another oinochoe (pi. 18,3).
Here again the relation will, I think, be evident, even at this stage. At any
rate one could not want better illustrations of the Corinthian style on a large
scale. We shall return to the aryballos pis. 18-19 m a moment because it be-
longs to a particular group, which in some respects stands outside the ordinary
course of early Corinthian painting.
The other plates devoted to the early Corinthian orientalizing style show a
variety of shapes, and, as is only to be expected, a certain degree of stylistic
variety. But it will, I think, be agreed, that the coherence of the group rests on
something more than a superficial resemblance. The heavy filling of rosettes
gives a certain uniformity to all these vases, but if we look more closely, we
shall see that similar forms and similar stylizations constantly recur. Taken
as a whole, the series illustrated in pis. 17-26 represents a single tradition and
a single point of view. There are a certain number of middle Corinthian vases
which bear a fairly strong resemblance to these (cf. pis. 28,1-4; 29,2-3); but
in the late period, as a glance at pi. 36 will show, there is really very little to
recall the early Corinthian style.
A word now as to one or two particular groups: several column-craters,
exactly parallel in style to the oinochoai here illustrated, are mentioned in the
catalogue. A detail of another, which will be discussed at length in connexion
with the pictorial style of this period (p. 100, and cf. p. 302), is shown in pi. 27.
This vase must be mentioned in this context because, besides the main
picture on the shoulder, it has a frieze of animals on the rim. And these, as a
comparison of pi. 26,8-9 (from the crater) and pi. 26, 5 and fig. 19 c-D (from
early alabastra and aryballoi) will show, are distinctly in the manner of the
early period.
We have already looked at the aryballos illustrated in pis. 18, 1-2, 5 and
;:sei
44
sense
THE EARLY CORINTHIAN ORIENTALIZING STYLE
. they are not uniform in style (since there is much variety of pattern and
filling ornament), a careful examination of the drawing shows that they
imply the same attitude of mind.
Two aryballoi of the 'lion group' (pi. 22, 1; 26, 4-5) bridge the gap between
the large and small vases, for they are by the same hand as the oinochoai
nos. 746-7, one of which is illustrated in pis. 24, 2; 26, 7: both are carefully
painted vases, and excellent illustrations of the best that the early Corinthian
period could produce.
It is easy to connect a number of larger vases with these; some, as we shall
see in discussing the external evidence for chronology (p. 55ff.), have been
found in the same graves as the small alabastra and aryballoi, but these are
a minority. In most cases we rely on the evidence of style and shape. There
are also a good many large alabastra and aryballoi: two of the most effective are
illustrated on pis. 18-20. By the first of these I show a detail of an oinochoe,
which obviously reflects the same point of view (cf. also fig. 12); by the
second, a fine fragment of an olpe, and a detail of another oinochoe (pi. 18,3).
Here again the relation will, I think, be evident, even at this stage. At any
rate one could not want better illustrations of the Corinthian style on a large
scale. We shall return to the aryballos pis. 18-19 m a moment because it be-
longs to a particular group, which in some respects stands outside the ordinary
course of early Corinthian painting.
The other plates devoted to the early Corinthian orientalizing style show a
variety of shapes, and, as is only to be expected, a certain degree of stylistic
variety. But it will, I think, be agreed, that the coherence of the group rests on
something more than a superficial resemblance. The heavy filling of rosettes
gives a certain uniformity to all these vases, but if we look more closely, we
shall see that similar forms and similar stylizations constantly recur. Taken
as a whole, the series illustrated in pis. 17-26 represents a single tradition and
a single point of view. There are a certain number of middle Corinthian vases
which bear a fairly strong resemblance to these (cf. pis. 28,1-4; 29,2-3); but
in the late period, as a glance at pi. 36 will show, there is really very little to
recall the early Corinthian style.
A word now as to one or two particular groups: several column-craters,
exactly parallel in style to the oinochoai here illustrated, are mentioned in the
catalogue. A detail of another, which will be discussed at length in connexion
with the pictorial style of this period (p. 100, and cf. p. 302), is shown in pi. 27.
This vase must be mentioned in this context because, besides the main
picture on the shoulder, it has a frieze of animals on the rim. And these, as a
comparison of pi. 26,8-9 (from the crater) and pi. 26, 5 and fig. 19 c-D (from
early alabastra and aryballoi) will show, are distinctly in the manner of the
early period.
We have already looked at the aryballos illustrated in pis. 18, 1-2, 5 and
;:sei