Vase Catalog Number: Harvard 1960.367

Parallels:

For the shape, cf. Harvard 1977.216.2322; Trendall 1967, 153, no. 879; CVA, Fogg-Gallatin, pl. 38, 7. For both shape and style, cf. Louvre K 536, also by the Choephoroi Painter; Trendall 1967, 125, no. 645. For the artist, see Trendall 1967, 118-26, pls. 60-62; A. D. Trendall, "The Choephoroi Painter," in Studies Presented to David M. Robinson II (St. Louis 1953) 114-26; and Trendall 1989, 60, figs. 89-92.

For the scene with Phrixos sacrificing the ram before Aietes, Chalkiope, and a Colchian in oriental garb, cf. a Lucanian hydria by an artist near the Choephoroi Painter: Naples 2858 (Trendall 1967, 120, no. 600, pl. 60, 3). On another nestoris, also near the Choephoroi Painter, Aietes is absent: Berlin F 3144 (Trendall 1967, 123, no. 625). On the nestoris Naples 1988 (Trendall 1967, 123, no. 628), Aietes is present, but not the oriental youth. See M. Schmidt in LIMC, I, 354, Aietes 8-11.

The scene of Orestes at Delphi, like others of its kind, is based ultimately upon the Eumenides of Aeschylus (Aesch. Eum.). It is not surprising that the Choephoroi Painter depicted the subject, as he is named after a group of vases representing the meeting of Electra and Orestes at the tomb of Agamemnon, inspired by the Choephoroi, the play preceding the Eumenides in Aeschylus' Oresteian trilogy. For South Italian vase-paintings possibly inspired by the Eumenides, see Trendall & Webster 1971, 45-49; and A. Kossatz-Deissmann, Dramen des Aischylos auf westgriechischen Vasen (Mainz 1978) 102-117, pls. 19-24.

The death of Aktaion was the subject of another play by Aeschylus, the Toxiades; see Trendall & Webster 1971, 62; and Kossatz-Deissmann 1978, 142-165, pls. 27.2-32. For representations of the death of Aktaion with the nymph Gargaphia present, cf. two Apulian versions: Paris, Cab. Méd. 949 (Trendall & Cambitoglou 1982, 429, no. 71, pl. 158, 3-4); and Göteborg RKM 13-71 (Trendall & Cambitoglou 1982, 476, 7, pl. 169, 2). See A. Kossatz-Deissmann, in LIMC, IV, 171; L. Guimond, in LIMC, I, 458; and L. Kahil, in LIMC, II, 732.

Condition:

Broken and repaired, with repainting of cracks; added color lost in many places.

Shape Description:

Nestoris of type 2: concave neck, offset shoulder, gradually tapering lower body, tall stemmed foot, narrow torus rim, two flanged, high-swung, vertical handles with rotelles at the tops and sides, and two horizontal handles.

The nestoris, with its distinctive high-swung handles, is descended from the native Italic trozzella. The shape is mostly confined to Lucania, being rare in Apulia and not found at all in Campania. This example is of the later variety (shape 2), with a well-defined shoulder and neck.

Other Bibliography:

Robinson exhibition catalogue 1961, no. 146; Trendall, Studies Robinson, pl. 43b; Trendall 1989, fig. 92; LIMC, I, 354, pl. 272, Aietes 8; LIMC, I, 458, pl. 353, Aktaion 45; LIMC, II, 732, Artemis 1404; LIMC, III, 833, Erinys 59; LIMC, IV, 171, Gargaphia 3; A. Kossatz-Deissmann, Dramen des Aischylos auf westgriechischen Vasen (Mainz 1978) pl. 27, 2.

(Michael Padgett)