Red-Figure Bail Amphora (Storage Vessel): Draped Women

330–320 BCE

attributed to CA Painter, Walters Sub-group

(South Italian, Campanian, active at Cumae, c. 350–320 BCE)

Culture

South Italian, Campanian, Cumaean

Medium

ceramic

Measurements

Diameter: 12.2 cm (4 13/16 in.); Overall: 54.6 cm (21 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Italian Ministry of Public Education 1967.245

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Location

102D Pre-Roman

Did You Know?

This vase once belonged to the famous opera singer Evan Gorga.

Description

The bail amphora, named for the tall handle arching over the mouth, is a shape made primarily in Campania, where red-figure vases were produced at both Capua and Cumae in the 4th century BC. The anonymous painter of this vase is known as the CA Painter, for Cumae A, the first significant artist in this area. The seated and standing women on both sides of the vase, some only partially draped (and their white skin now largely lost), recall those on many of the painter’s other vases, as do the elaborate palmette patterns on either side.