Baltimore, Hopkins AIA B3
Kylix by Epiktetos
520-510 B.C.
B 3. Baltimore Society AIA, formerly Hartwig Collection. "Chiusi."
Ht, 14.1 cm; diam rim, 32.8 cm; diam foot, 12.7 cm. Mended from many pieces.
Foot is ancient but does not belong. A few parts along rim restored (before
acquisition) with segments of another ancient kylix.
Tondo is bordered by narrow reserved band. Wreathed satyr reclines on
a couch, which is indicated by narrow reserved band (fragments imprecisely
assembled give inaccurate effect of bent line). His back is supported by a
pillow decorated with three black bands crossed by two close-set lines. His legs
are bent and upraised, with feet pressed against edge of tondo. With both hands
and upraised right knee he raises pointed amphora to his lips. Inscribed beneath
couch and in field above satyr's head:
ΕΠΙΚΤΕΤΟΣ ΕΓΡΑΦΣΕΝ.
Relief contour throughout except for reserved contour of beard.
Dilute glaze for inner markings. Added red for tail, wreath, lettering. Incised
contour of hair at crown and nape.
Epiktetos was a prominent early red-figure painter who specialized in
cups.
1 He signed his name on forty vases and is accredited with sixty more,
many of which are signed only with
"egraphsen." Epiktetos also worked as a potter. He signed one vase as both
potter and painter,
2 and he wrote only
"epoiesen" on other
vases that we know he both potted and painted.
3
Epiktetos worked for a number of potters, including Andocides,
Nikosthenes, and Hischylos, for whom he painted bilingual cups. In his later
years, Epiktetos painted for Pistoxenos, Pamphaios, and Python, and he
undoubtedly came into contact with artists of the early fifth century, such as
Douris (see
Baltimore, Hopkins AIA B8,
Baltimore, Hopkins AIA B9) and Makron (see
Baltimore, Hopkins AIA B10).
4
Epiktetos displays influence from black-figure vase-painting in his
use of incision along the contour of the hair, but, in contrast to Phintias and
other painters of the
Pioneer Group, Epiktetos prefers the newer dilute glaze, rather than relief
line, for the interiors of his figures. He is especially admired for the
excellence of his tondo compositions, of which our example is a good
illustration. The scene displays a sensitive balance of light and dark and an
admirable skill in the handling of the satyr, who, as the cup is rotated,
appears to stand and lean over the amphora.
5 Also noteworthy is the skillful draughtsmanship of the face.
Our cup is probably an early work, since the proportions of the satyr
are slender,
6 the use of red is generous,
7 and the profile of bowl and stem can be compared with those on cups by
the potter Hischylos,
8 with whom Epiktetos was associated early in his career. A later version
of the same scene appeared on a kylix once in Rome; that cup was said by Beazley
to be in the manner of Epiktetos and possibly by the artist himself.
9
Bibliography
P. Hartwig, RömMitt 2 (1887):167, no. 1;
P. Hartwig, Jdl 6 (1891):250-57, pl. V;
P. Hartwig, Jdl 7 (1892):
118;
Harrison & MacColl
1894, pl. IX.1;
Beazley 1918,
14-16, fig. 7;
Hoppin 1919,
vol. I, 301, no. 2;
Beazley
1925, 26, no. 20;
Philippart
1928, 50;
W. Kraiker, JdI 44 (1929):177, no. 33;
CVA, USA fasc. 6, Robinson fasc. 2, 11-12,
pls. I.3, II.3;
D. K. Hill,
JWalt 1 (1938):29, fig. 6;
Buschor 1943, fig. 42;
ARV2, 75, no. 56.
