DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8577#0367
APPENDIX II 347
the shape of the amphorae: for the London and Leipzig vases are as different in shape from the
Louvre amphora by the gorgon painter (and indeed from all sixth-century amphorae) as their
decoration is different in style from that of the gorgon group.
The Peiraeus amphora and the fragments mentioned immediately above it stand at the beginning
of the black-figure tradition in Attica, and have a strong seventh-century character. This comes out
as much in the great variety of filling ornament as in the primitive style of the drawing. On the
Nessos vase and the other works of the same artist a certain sobering of this spirit is noticeable,
though there is still a marked degree of variety in the minor decorative motives.1 The fragments
from Menidi (cf. fig. 200) are evidently a little later still and lead to the canonical style of the early
sixth century. These, as I have already remarked, correspond to early Corinthian; there is a touch
of Protocorinthian about the Nessos vase, and more than a touch about the Peiraeus amphora. The
Nessos vase is so much the finer of these two that it is easy to overlook the interest of the other.
Yet the Peiraeus amphora is in every way a remarkable piece. The attempt to transfer Protocorin-
thian technique and style to an Attic vase of giant scale is in itself arresting; the fact that an
experiment of this kind could succeed and determine no small part of the history of vase paint-
ing in Attica during the next hundred years, gives the Peiraeus amphora, and the few surviving
fragments of similar style, a particular importance.
The whole technique of drawing is finer on the Nessos
than on the Peiraeus vase; on this last, as on the fragments
published by Benndorf and the two earliest amphorae, the
incised lines are very coarse.
A word about the technique of the Nessos vase. It has
always been said that white is not used on this vase (cf., for
example, A. Anz. 1923-4, 49 [v. Massow and Langlotz],
and though white is used on the (earlier) Peiraeus amphora,
the supposed absence of white has been regarded as a
point of some significance (this point of view is rightly
criticized by Rumpf. A. Anz. 1923-4, 47-8). Actually a
considerable quantity of white was used, though it is now
so faded as only to be distinguishable when the black on
which it is placed is caught by the light. Unfortunately,
at the time of writing I cannot refer to my notes or to the
vase, but I remember clearly that Herakles' belt and the hilt
of his sword were white, as also long thin strips on the inner
wing-quills of the gorgons and swans, the gorgons' teeth
and dots on the corners of their eyes.
Fig. 200. Attic fragment from Menidi
the shape of the amphorae: for the London and Leipzig vases are as different in shape from the
Louvre amphora by the gorgon painter (and indeed from all sixth-century amphorae) as their
decoration is different in style from that of the gorgon group.
The Peiraeus amphora and the fragments mentioned immediately above it stand at the beginning
of the black-figure tradition in Attica, and have a strong seventh-century character. This comes out
as much in the great variety of filling ornament as in the primitive style of the drawing. On the
Nessos vase and the other works of the same artist a certain sobering of this spirit is noticeable,
though there is still a marked degree of variety in the minor decorative motives.1 The fragments
from Menidi (cf. fig. 200) are evidently a little later still and lead to the canonical style of the early
sixth century. These, as I have already remarked, correspond to early Corinthian; there is a touch
of Protocorinthian about the Nessos vase, and more than a touch about the Peiraeus amphora. The
Nessos vase is so much the finer of these two that it is easy to overlook the interest of the other.
Yet the Peiraeus amphora is in every way a remarkable piece. The attempt to transfer Protocorin-
thian technique and style to an Attic vase of giant scale is in itself arresting; the fact that an
experiment of this kind could succeed and determine no small part of the history of vase paint-
ing in Attica during the next hundred years, gives the Peiraeus amphora, and the few surviving
fragments of similar style, a particular importance.
The whole technique of drawing is finer on the Nessos
than on the Peiraeus vase; on this last, as on the fragments
published by Benndorf and the two earliest amphorae, the
incised lines are very coarse.
A word about the technique of the Nessos vase. It has
always been said that white is not used on this vase (cf., for
example, A. Anz. 1923-4, 49 [v. Massow and Langlotz],
and though white is used on the (earlier) Peiraeus amphora,
the supposed absence of white has been regarded as a
point of some significance (this point of view is rightly
criticized by Rumpf. A. Anz. 1923-4, 47-8). Actually a
considerable quantity of white was used, though it is now
so faded as only to be distinguishable when the black on
which it is placed is caught by the light. Unfortunately,
at the time of writing I cannot refer to my notes or to the
vase, but I remember clearly that Herakles' belt and the hilt
of his sword were white, as also long thin strips on the inner
wing-quills of the gorgons and swans, the gorgons' teeth
and dots on the corners of their eyes.
Fig. 200. Attic fragment from Menidi