103-114

A bell-krater by the Dinos painter

• Τζάχου-Αλεξανδρή,  Όλγα

The bell-krater no. A 8934 published here comes from the excavation of the plot at Ermou Street 93.The front of the vase is adorned with a banquet scene. At the right, two youths reclining on couches play kottabos, aiming at the target on the top of the orthostat, while a courtesan brings them fruits on a tray. At the left edge of the scene is a youth holding a hydria, containing water with which to mix the wine stored in the bell-krater next to him. On the back of the krater are depicted three men wearing himatia. The one at the right is bearded and leans on his staff. The other two are beardless youths holding lamps. The scene has been interpreted as depicting citizens out at night. The two scenes are probably related.A difference between the two scenes can be detected in the quality of the workmanship. The drawing of the one on the front is meticulous and detailed, while that on the back was evidently rapid and carelessly executed. The artistic style of the draw ing has features associated with the art of the Dinos Painter. The similarities lie in the small heads of the figures depicted and the childlike expression of their faces, the musculature of the bodies and the gestures, the placement of the figures on different levels, and the complex drapery. The shape of the Athens krater is similar to that of the kraters from the Polyandrion at Thespiai, which are dated to 424 BC. The drawing, too, reflects the work of the artist’s early period, as expressed on the bell krater in the Elie Borowski Collection, the krater in the Municipal Archaeological Museum in Bologna, no. 17350 (Pell 300), and the stamnos in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, no. 2419, all of which are assigned to the decade 430-420 BC. Similarities may also observed with the dinos in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, no. 13027, by the Painter of the Athens Dinos.The bell krater no. 8934 occupies a special place in the list of the vase-painter’s early works, not only because of its very high artistic value, but also since it is the only work by the Dinos Painter in which a banquet scene is preserved in full. Here the artist brings to life moments of enjoyment from the lives of the golden youth of Athens during the difficult, disturbed years of the Peloponnesian War.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Decorative arts
• Archaeology and art

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