Volute Krater (Mixing Bowl)

About 340 BCE

Attributed to the Painter of Copenhagen 4223
Greek; Apulia, Italy

On the front of this vessel a young warrior and a tutor or philosopher are shown standing in a naiskos (tomb) surrounded by attendants with offerings; above them is the head of the mythical poet and singer, Orpheus.

On the back, another naiskos (tomb) is decorated with large white figures. Since the krater is a funerary vessel, these figures may be symbolic representations of the dead or they may depict marble statues of the tomb’s occupants.

Status: On View, Gallery 151
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Greek
Title: Volute Krater (Mixing Bowl)
Place: Apulia (Object made in)
Date: 340 BCE
Medium: terracotta, red-figure
Dimensions: 78 × 4838.1 cm (30 3/4 × 18 7/8 in.)
Credit Line: Katherine K. Adler Memorial Fund
Reference Number: 1984.7
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/102078/manifest.json

A.D. Trendall and A. Cambitoglou, The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, Suppl. 1, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), p. 66, 17/49d.
Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report: 1983-84 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1984), p. 47.
Art Institute of Chicago, Supplement to the Annual Report: 1983-1984 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1984), p. 9 (ill.).
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Mosaic: March/April 1985 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1985), p. 11 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Studies Vol. 15 no. 1 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1989), p. 78 (ill.) .

The Art Institute of Chicago, The Human Figure in Greek and Roman Art, January 13, 1989 - February 21, 1990.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, November 11, 2012-present.

Intercontinental Antiquity Corporation of California, by 1983 (Trendall 1983); Lincoln W. Higgie, Chicago FIne Arts, Chicago, IL, by 1984; sold to the Art Institute, 1984.

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