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Wine Cup (Skyphos) with Cithara Player

Wine Cup (Skyphos) with Cithara Player

A Painter from Pistias Class "M"

On this drinking cup a poet plays a stringed instrument called a cithara and sings. The words of the song flow from his mouth, almost like those of a modern cartoon character. However, these letters do not form real Greek words.
Artist
A Painter from Pistias Class "M"
(Greek, Attic)
Title
Wine Cup (Skyphos) with Cithara Player
Date
520-510 B.C.E.
Medium
Earthenware with black-figure decoration on white ground
Dimensions
4 9/16 x12 1/2 in. overall
Credit
Cyril Winton Nave Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
1979.122
Classification
Ceramics
Geography
Greece

Related

According to dealers Bruce and Ingrid McAlpine Ancient Art, this vase was previously in the von Sodenstern collection (Germany). 8 December 1978, sold by Bruce and Ingrid McAlpine Ancient Art (London, England) to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]. [Last researched by Chazen staff 2017-2018]

  • Powell, Barry B. "Classical Myth." 4th ed. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
  • Glassman, Gary, Providence Pictures (directed by), and The History Channel. "The True Story of Troy" DVD. May 2004.
  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Ancient Etruscan and Greek Vases in the Elvehjem Museum of Art." University of Wisconsin Regents. Madison, Wis., 2000. p. 54, no. 34
  • Moon, Warren G, and Louise Berge. "Greek Vase-painting In Midwestern Collections." Chicago: The Art Institute, 1979. p. 123
  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Bulletin 1978-1980." Madison: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 1980. p. 83
  • Porter, James I. "The Origins of Aesthetic Thought in Ancient Greece: Matter, Sensation, and Experience." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. p. 232, no. 4.2
  • Porter, James I. “Why are there nine muses?,” in Butler, Shane and Alex C. Purves, ed. "Synaesthesia and the Ancient Senses." Durham, UK: Acumen, 2013. pp. 23-25, no. 1.2-.4
  • Powell, Barry B. "Classical Myth." 7th ed. Boston : Pearson, 2012. p. 58, no. 3.4
  • Price, Sarah. “Anacreontic Vases Reconsidered,” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 31 (1990): 133-175 p. 160, pl. 9a
  • Gandossi-Boshnakova, Anna. "Attic Vases with Implied Melodies." Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography, XLIX/1-2 (2024): 37–86. p. 43, no. 4a-4b

  • Greek Vase-Painting in Midwestern Collections: The Art Institute of Chicago, 12/22/1979–2/24/1980

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