[Image not available]
Three-dimensional approximation of the vase
Side A: lovemaking scene
| Collection: | London, British Museum |
| Summary: | Side A: Lovemaking scene. Side B: Three youths. |
| Ware: | Attic Red Figure |
| Painter: | Attributed to the Dinos Painter |
| Context: | From Capua |
| Date: | ca. 430 BC |
| Primary Citation: | |
| Shape: | Bell krater |
| Beazley Number: | 215288 |
| Region: | Campania |
| Period: | Classical |
Condition:
Fragments missing on Side A.
Decoration Description:
Side A: On the left, a youth is seated in a chair, in profile to the right. His cloak is thrown over the chair seat and back, and he is nude, wearing only a wreath in his hair. He drapes his right arm over the chair back, and his left above his head, in a relaxed attitude. In front of him stands a boy, also nude and wearing a wreath in his hair, who is about to climb onto the youth's lap. He steadies himself with his right hand on the chair back, while he uses the staff in his left hand to help himself up. His left foot is on the chair seat. The purpose for this maneuver is made clear by the youth's erection; they are about to engage in homosexual sex. To the right of these two is a Doric column, painted white, and then a bearded man wearing a mantle wrapped around his waist and a wreath in his hair. He stands with his left hand on his hip and watches the goings-on. To his right is a woman standing in a doorway, the upper part of which is open. She leans her elbows on the sill, and also watches the youth and boy. Keuls (293) suggests that because this is not a "typical" homosexual love scene (a youth and a mature man), it depicts male prostitution. The architectural setting and the two people watching would tend to confirm that.
Side B: Three draped youths are in conversation. They are all completely covered in himatia, and wear thin wreaths or fillets in their hair. The one on the left stands with his body frontally, and head turned to the right. The center figure is in profile to the right, and the third is in profile to the left, gesturing with his right arm and speaking to the other two.
The upper band of decoration is an olive wreath, the lower is meanders and crossed squares.
Sources Used:
Other Bibliography:
RM 79 (1972) 6, pl. 8.2