Collection Online as of September 22, 2019

The Atalanta Lekythos (Funerary Oil Jug)

500-490 BC

attributed to Douris

(Greek)

Greece, Attic, early 5th Century

Painted white-ground terracotta

Overall: 31.8 cm (12 1/2 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1966.114

Location

102B Greek

Fun Fact

Funeral rites in ancient Greece involved the dedication of special vessels, such as this exquisite white-ground oil container called a lekythos. The delicacy of line, complex composition, and well-preserved condition distinguish this vase as one of the finest of its type to have survived from antiquity.

Description

The extraordinary intact conditon of the fragile white ground and the spirited yet delicate drawing have made the vase renowned as one of the finest white ground lekythoi in existence. Atalanta, who would marry only the man who could beat her in a foot race, is here being teased by three Erotes, winged gods of love. Each figure is identified by name: EPOS and ATALANTE. Douris was an Athenian vase painter who was active from about 500–460 BC.

Citations

Beazley Archive. n.d. Beazley Archive Pottery Database. Oxford: Beazley Archive. BAPD 275976 www.beazley.ox.ac.uk

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 20 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 20 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 23 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 8 archive.org

Williams, Dyfri. "Beyond the Berlin Painter: Toward a Workshop View." In The Berlin Painter and His World: Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C. J. Michael Padgett,J ed., 144-187. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Art Museum; New Haven, Connecticut: Distributed by Yale University Press, 2017. Reproduced: p. 171, fig. 17

Moon, Warren G. and Louise Berge. Greek Vase-Painting in Midwestern Collections. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1979. Mentioned & reproduced: pp. 184-185, cat. 104

Exhibition history

The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 30-September 5, 1982).