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slaying the Minotaur. The hero is clad in a cuirass; and on the former is also the story of Amphiaraus setting out for the siege of Thebes, and on the latter is the departure of Hector. No. 532 is a contest between Heracles and Triton; the Hero has leapt upon the back of the sea monster, and is clasping him round the waist; on the reverse is the arming of Hector. No. 534 is an Amphora, one of whose subjects is Heracles seizing the Mænalian stag. No. 539 has a representation of Heracles before the hot springs, Thermæ, in Sicily. The Hero stands under the stream which issues from a lion's head at the top of a rock. No. 553 has a representation of Achilles dragging the body of Hector round the sepulchral mound of Patroclos; the body of Hector is trailed behind the quadriga, which is driven by Automedon, the charioteer of Achilles. The horses are galloping past the mound of Patroclos, which is indicated by a white high mound in the form of a bell. No. 554 is a curious inscribed vase, representing for one of its subjects Achilles slaying Penthesilea, and bearing the names of Achilles, Penthesilea, Onetorides, and the maker, Exekias. The Hero is armed in the Greek panoply, with a high crested Corinthian helmet and Argolic buckler, on the inside of which is a honeysuckle ornament. No. 504* has the same subject, and the name of the maker, Amasis, inscribed upon it. No. 559 is an inscribed vase, with a representation of a boar-hunt. Five naked hunters, armed with spears, are attacking a boar. The names inscribed on this crater are Eudoros, Polyphas, Antiphatas, Polydas, Panthippos, and Polydoros. No. 563 is a two-handled vase with two subjects; the first a dance between seven Satyrs and seven Mænads; and the second, two female Sphinxes, face to face. On each handle is a Satyr dancing, and the vase is inscribed with the name of the maker, Nikosthenes.

No. 564 is a very remarkable vase, with two subjects upon it. The First is the Birth of Athene from the brain of Zeus, who appears in the centre of the scene, seated on a throne, with his feet on a stool; from the back of his head Athene is springing in full armour, the whole of her form being visible except the right leg, which has not yet issued from the brain of Zeus. Before Zeus stand Eileithyia, Heracles, and Ares; and behind the throne, Apollo Citharœdus, Poseidon, Hera, and Hephaestus. The names of all these personages are inscribed near their figures on the vase. The Second, a warrior, called Callias, with his charioteer in a quadriga, with one white horse, and three figures at the side of the chariot, over the head of one of whom flies a human-headed bird. There is also a frieze of animals on this vase, goats, panthers, does, and lions, and

a hunting scene, in which four horsemen are attacking a deer, and two hunters on foot, a boar.

No. 569 is one of the most remarkable vases in the collection of the British Museum. It is called a Panathenaic Amphora, and was found by Mr. Burgon, in 1813, on a spot outside the ancient walls of Athens, close to the Porta Acharnicæ. It contained some remains of burnt bones, and also a lecythos, and five other small earthen vessels, of various forms. (Vide Nos. 2603, 3039, 3047, 3050, 3056.) There is no doubt that this Amphora is of great antiquity, the letters of an inscription on it, which records that it was one of the prizes from Athens, being of a form extremely Archaic, as are also the representations of the ægis, the biga, the mode of driving, and the position of the charioteer. On a tablet appears Athene in full armour, her long hair falls down upon her neck, and her ægis is of the primitive form, being made of leather, with a frieze of thongs, worked so as to imitate serpents. On a second tablet is a biga driven at speed by a seated charioteer, who holds in his right hand a goad, and in his left a long pole terminating in a crook. The horses have no harness, but head-stalls, and are yoked like oxen to a transverse bar fastened to the pole; on the hind-quarter of one of them is a crimson mark, indicating where the goad has made a wound; on the neck is a Siren or Harpy; on the reverse an owl, with the wings spread. This vase has been engraved by Millingen, Inghirami, and Müller, and an excellent account of the inscription on it is in Brönstedt, Boeckh, and Rose, who has called it the “Vas Burgonianum.” Nos. 570, 571, 572, 573, and 573*, appear from inscriptions on them, to have also been prizes from Athens.

Nos. 584, 584*, and 586, are vases with several names inscribed on them in early Grecian characters; No. 586 being a fine specimen of its class. No. 607 is an interesting Amphora containing, for subjects, the Death of Priam at the altar of Zeus Herkeios, and the contest between Theseus and the Minotaur. In the Former the aged Monarch is represented lying prostrate on the altar on his back, his beard and hair quite white, and his hand raised to deprecate the wrath of Neoptolemos, who stands over him about to hurl to the ground the young Astyanax, whom he grasps by the leg with his right hand. Near him stand Andromache, Hecuba, and Antenor. In the Latter the Hero has seized the Minotaur by the throat, and is piercing him with his sword. No. 608 has representations of Achilles and Ajax playing at dice, and of the contest of Heracles with the Nemean lion. No. 621 has the Return of Persephone to heaven. The Goddess is standing in a quadriga, holding the reins;

at the side of the horses are Demeter and Apollo Citharœdus, and at the horses' heads Hera seated. No. 624* is the contest of Heracles and Hippolyte for the girdle. No. 626 is a representation of Edipus consulting the Sphinx, who is sitting upon an altar or column; behind the Sphinx stands a figure, perhaps Teiresias or Kreon, holding a wand in his left hand. No. 641* is an Oinochoe, in clay, pale, with black varnish, and design black, white, and crimson, with incised lines, containing a representation, in the finest Archaic style, of Perseus killing the Gorgon Medusa; the hero is in the act of plunging the harpe into her neck. Medusa has four wings at her back. Behind Perseus is an inscription, stating that "Amasis made me." No. 652 has a representation of two warriors, perhaps Ulysses and Diomedes, lying in ambush behind some shrubs. No. 668 is an Oinochoe with a very interesting and curious subject, the forge of Hephæstos at Lemnos. In the centre of the scene is the furnace, rising like a tall chimney, and surmounted by a cauldron, which terminates in pyramidal steps; at the bottom, within an arched door, is seen a blazing fire into which a Cyclops is introducing a mass of iron with the tongs; the figure is naked, and seated upon a fourlegged stool. On the other side of the furnace, is a more youthful Cyclops, holding in his right hand an axe. On the body of the vessel, are several letters inscribed. No. 680 is a shallow twohanded cup, with Greek words inscribed upon it, meaning "Hail and drink."

VII. Vases in the finest Greek Style.

After this, the more Archaic period of pottery, succeed the vases of the best period of Greek art, from the epoch of Pheidias and Polygnotus, to the Archonship of Eucleides, B.C. 404. The vases belonging to this date have red figures on a black ground; the material being, like that of the earlier vases, of a fine red clay. The artist having traced out the design, then filled up the whole of the background with the black pigment, following the contours of the group. The inner markings of the figures, which in the former style were incised with the graving tool, were sketched with a brush dipped in the black pigment which formed the ground. This change in the technical process gave scope to the freer and more refined treatment to which the art of the period had attained. The subjects of these vases are apparently suggested by the works of the great painters of the day; they chiefly represent Myths: historical subjects are more rare.

Representations of Croesus on the funeral pile, of Musæus, Ana

creon, and the Athenian Codrus, have been found. In the inscriptions on these vases, the use of the E and O instead of the H and

, affords a strong presumption that their date is earlier than the Archonship of Eucleides, B.C. 404, the recorded epoch of the introduction of the double letters into the Greek alphabet.'

The finest specimens of this class are from Campania, Vulci, and Canino.

Between the epochs B.C. 404 and B.C. 333 the drawing on vases is characterized by greater freedom and technical skill, and more complexity of grouping; and the lines of the composition are more glowing and luxuriant.

No. 717 is a Hydria, with a design red on a black ground; the outlines drawn in black, the inner markings faintly traced in red, with accessories in white and crimson. The subject represented is the Youth of Jason renewed by Medea. In the centre of the scene is a cauldron, under which is a fire. The head and forelegs of a young ram appear above the cauldron, as if he were about to spring out; he is turned towards Medea, who stands in front of the tripod. Before the face of Medea is inscribed her name. On the opposite side of the tripod stands Jason, extending his right hand towards the ram, and holding in his left a staff. In front of his head is his name, "Jason." No. 718 has a subject which we have already mentioned, Achilles and Ajax playing at dice at the base of the statue of Pallas Athene. The heroes are sitting opposite to each other on cubes; the dice are placed between them on a stone. There is a second subject on the vase, of a youthful charioteer stepping into a quadriga. No. 719 represents the meeting of Menelaos and Helen on the night of the taking of Troy; and has also a second subject, representing a symposion and three figures reclining. The vase is inscribed. No.

1 Of the Athenian school of pottery contemporary with those vases, we have examples in the lecythi buried with the dead, and the alabastra or unguent-vessels, so called from the material of which they were originally made. They are of fine red clay covered with a white pigment, on which designs were traced in black, sienna, brown, or scarlet. The subjects of the lecythi are principally the meeting of Electra and Orestes at the tomb of Agamemnon (see Bronze Room, Cases 35, No. 2847), and other scenes from the Oresteid of the three tragedians. On the alabastra are represented the meetings of the Athenian ladies and their lovers. Besides these kinds of pottery, the vases with red figures on black grounds are also found at Athens, but are not so peculiarly the product of the Attic school.

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724 is an Amphora, with a design red on a black ground; its subject, the birth of Dionysos from the thigh of Zeus, who is seated on an altar holding the new-born infant in his arms. The left thigh of the God from which Dionysos has first issued, is bound with a bandage; before him stands Poseidon. The corners of the altar terminate in two Ionic volutes. The second subject represents Seilenos standing before a nymph.

No. 727 is a Crater, with a design red on a black ground, and containing for one of its subjects that of Heracles Musagetes. The Hero is standing with his left foot on the lower step of a base playing the heptachord lyre with the plectrum; before him is Iris winged, Poseidon seated in a chair, Pallas Athene holding in her right hand a long sceptre, and a winged Victory floating in the air. On the reverse is a female figure standing between two youthful male figures. No. 741* is an Amphora with a design red, on a black ground. The subject is the birth of Athene from the brain of Zeus, who is seated on a throne in the centre of the scene; his left hand resting on a sceptre, and his right is extended towards Poseidon. Athene has fully issued forth, and stands on his head on her left leg, as though she had just alighted. Above her is her name. To the left of Zeus are Hephæstus, Poseidon, a winged Victory, Artemis, Apollo(?), Dionysos, and some other figures. This vase is remarkable for the beauty of the drawing; the types of the different divinities are finely discriminated in the expression of the features. The eyelashes of all the figures on the obverse, except Artemis, are carefully given, the upper ones being drawn in profile, and the lower indicated by separate strokes. No. 755 is an interesting Amphora; its First subject a preparation for a sacrifice; two female figures are engaged in decorating the head of a bull with the sacrificial stemma or fillet, composed of flocks of purple wool attached to a riband. Each of the bulls stands beside a tripod placed on a base, and their lower eyelashes are indicated by single strokes. Upon the vase is inscribed the words, "Polygnotus drew me." The Second subject represents Zeus. No. 794 is an amphora with twisted handles; its main subject is Anacreon singing and playing on the heptachord chelys with the plectrum. The Poet wears a myrtle wreath, and leans backward, throwing his head up as he sings, and with his left foot advanced; behind him follows a little spaniel, with a sharp nose and curly tail. The Second subject is a youthful male figure, probably Bathyllos, carrying on his left shoulder an Amphora.. No. 797 is a similar Amphora, containing for its main subject a flute-player standing on a plinth, and playing

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