Acta Classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis Tomus X-XI 1974-1975 (dedikált példány) [antikvár]

ACTA CLASSICA X—XI. 1974 1975. p. 5—14. UNIV. SCIENT. DEBRECEN. the st. louis painter BYJÁNOS GYÖRGY SZILÁGYI Three of the relatively small number of Etrusco-Corinthian neck-amphorae are definitely by one hand 1 St. Louis, Art Museum 167.25, from Cerveteri; h.: 63.5 cm. On the shoulder: a pair of horizontal S-loops. Two friezes around the body. In the upper: sphinx, winged lion, boar, "panther", grazing stag, all to the right, alternating with large rosettes. In the lower frieze: double-bodied "panther", bird, winged horse, lion, boar, bull, all to the right; rosettes as before. Under the lower frieze: a pattern consisting of opposed vertical S-loops connected by crossed lines and a double horizontal line with inserted leaves. Added broad red bands bordered in white frame each frieze including shoulder ornament and lower pattern frieze. An identical added red band, bordered in white on both sides, around the junction of body and foot. Added red and white alternating with black on the petals of rosettes; added white dots on the bodies of the animals and on the feathers of the bird, alternating with feathers in black and in added red. The lower pattern frieze was painted in a diluted yellowish brown, (pi. I)^ 2 Cleveland, Museum of Art 24.872; h.: 64.1 cm. R. Howard, Bull, of the Cleveland Museum of Art 11 (1924) p. 199 with fig. on p. 207; Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland 1958, fig. 15; CVA 1, pi. 41.1 and pi. 42.1 with comments by C. G. Boulter making further description superfluous. See also G. Colonna, Studi Etruschi 29 (1961) pp. 53-4 and note 22; F. Zevi, Archeologia Classica 19 (1965) p. 30, note 103. (pi. II-III)^ 3 Paris, Louvre, s.n.;^ h.: 67.2 cm. Large parts missing and restored in plaster. The surface is heavily worn. On the neck A-B: two opposed animals or a double-bodied animal of which only the incised inner details are still visible. Neither a polychrome nor a black-figure technique were used; the contours were possibly painted with added white lines, no trace of them remains, however. The same patterns as on vases 1 and 2 on the shoulder and under the lower frieze. Around the body, in the upper frieze: floral ornament, grazing stag to left, lotus flower, "panther" to right, large rosette, chimaera, siren, bull between two large rosettes, grazing stag with leaves in its mouth, all to right. In the second frieze: double-bodied "panther", sphinx (?, head missing), grazing stag, lion, "kneeling" bull, winged "panther" couchant, all to right; a large rosette between each pair. Added red bands and white lines as on amphorae 1 and 2; added red on rosettes and on the feathers of the siren (alternating with black), on the necks and bodies of the animals, and the tongue and serpent-tail of the chimaera, as well as on the floral ornaments. Added white dots on the body of the stags and the serpent. There may well have been more added painting which is no longer visible. (pi. IV-VI) A comparison of the forms of the three vases allows one to conclude beyond any possible doubt that they are the work of the same potter. The identity of the painter is euqally apparent; it is shown in the similarity of the rendering both of the types of animals and their details as well as that of the decorative scheme of the vase as a whole. The name, St. Louis Painter, is taken from the museum where amphora 1 is at present held. 1 See J. Gy. Szilágyi, Arch. Class. 20 (1968) p. 9. with note 21a. ^ I am obliged to the St. Louis Art Museum for the photographs and for allowing me to publish the vase. ^ I am indebted to Prof. Cedric C. Boulter for the photographs and to John D. Cooney for permission to publish them. * The vase is at present (1974) on display at the bottom of a large case in the Etruscan room. I was not able to establish its inventory number.