Pelike (Apulian red-figure ware)
420 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
31.4 × 25.3 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1966
© Public Domain
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
A pelike is a container for liquids, similar to an amphora. The principal scene on this pelike depicts the mythical hero Telamon attacking the Amazon queen Andromache on her horse, in order to win her girdle, or belt, a symbol of her status. The scene is from the ninth of Heracles’s Twelve Labours. The bearded Telamon fights heroically naked, wearing only his helmet. Andromache, riding a stallion and brandishing an axe, is dressed in exotically patterned trousers, tunic and soft Persian cap. The battle between the Greeks and the Amazons became a major theme in fifth-century Athens. The reverse of this vessel shows a quieter scene from daily life. The subordination of the reverse scene to the main narrative scene became increasingly common for later fifth-century vases.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Apulia, Italy
Inscription
inscribed on Side A figured scene in Greek script: TELAMON and ANDROMACHE
Accession Number
1391-D5
Department
Antiquities
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Two-handled, stout-bodied jar with a short neck and wide mouth. Decorated in red-figure on black-glaze. Side A: an Amazonomachy scene, with a naked Telamon on the left attacking Andromache on her horse, with a fleeing Amazon to the right. Side B: three draped men, the centre one bearded, the others youthful. On the neck is a band of diagonal palmettes, carefully executed. Below the scenes is a band of meander and saltire crosses.