Volute-krater (Lucanian red-figure ware)
340 BCE-320 BCE
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
80.2 × 43.0 × 38.4 cm
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
This elaborately decorated krater has volute, scroll-like handles decorated with moulded faces of Silenus, a woodland god and companion to the god of wine Dionysus. The main scene shows a youthful Dionysus seated holding a wine cup and a thyrsos (fennel stalk). To the left is a maenad (female attendant of Dionysus) in elaborate dress offering him a libation dish. On the neck of the krater, above this scene, a winged Eros, god of love, drives a chariot drawn by two large birds. The ornate wings streaming out behind him give an impression of great speed. The Primato Painter was one ofthe most important of the Lucanian painters and is renowned for his love of decorative pattern and exquisite palmettes (fan-shaped motifs).
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Lucania, Italy
Accession Number
1369-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
Large, elaborately decorated vessel with an ovoid body, wide neck and flaring mouth. Each of the two handles reach from the shoulder to the rim, with moulded swans' heads at the base of the handle and a moulded "volute" at the rim in the form of a satyr/silenus mask. Main scene Side A: Dionysus is seated at right, facing a standing Maenad at left holding a phiale; above them is a winged Nike. On the neck of A Eros drives a chariot drawn by birds. Main scene Side B: Bearded Herakles, his foot on a rock, receives a branch from a winged Nike with swirling drapery. On the neck of B are vegetal and floral scrolls. Under the handles are elaborate palmettes. On the rim edge is a wave pattern and under the rim is a band of laurel. Shoulder of A: ivy pattern; shoulder of B: laurel.