Intended to serve as a funerary offering, this volute krater, set in its own stand, was created in a Greek colony in southeastern Italy. On front of the krater, an image of the deceased with his horse is shown as part of a funerary monument. Above is a scene of banqueting. The colonial artist, in a style characteristically his own, has densely packed the reverse surface of the vessel with a complex assembly of the major deities of the Greek pantheon. Zeus, enthroned in the center, is flanked by gods and goddesses identified by the attributes they hold. Below Dionysus and Ariadne ride in a chariot drawn by two panthers. Greeks and Amazons battle above.
Artist attributed to Baltimore Painter, Greek, 400-300
Title
  • South Italian Funerary Vase
Date between 320 and 310 BCE
Medium clay
Dimensions Overall: 45 3/8 × 25 × 19 15/16 inches (115.3 × 63.5 × 50.7 cm)
Credit Line Founders Society Purchase, Hill Memorial Fund, William H. Murphy Fund, Dr. and Mrs. Arthur R. Bloom Fund and Antiquaries Fund
Accession Number 1983.25
Department Greco-Roman and Ancient European
On View Ancient Greek and Roman S2AA, Level 2 (see map)
1983, (Emile Deletaille Antiquaire, Brussels, Belgium);
1983-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Trendall, A.D. and A. Cambitoglou. "First Supplement to The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia," Institute of Classical Studies Bulletin Supplement no. 42. University of London, 1983, p. 152, no. 23c.

"La Chronique des Arts, Principales Acquisitions des Musees en 1984," Gazette des Beaux-arts, Supplement, no. 1394 (March 1985): pl. 150.

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. DIA. Detroit, p. 34-5 (ill.).

"Family Art Game: Celebrations," The Detroit Free Press (May 17, 1987): p. 25 (ill.) [DIA Advertising Supplement].

Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 112 (ill.).

"DIA Art Game: Art Speaks," The Detroit Free Press (April 26, 1998): p. 5.