Attributed to a Member of the Earlier Mannerist Group Greek; Athens
About this artwork
The Greeks diluted their wine by blending it with water. The master of ceremonies at the symposium, or drinking party for men, determined the ratio of wine to water, both of which were poured into a large mixing bowl, like this one. This particular shape is called a column krater after its columnar handles. It is decorated with a mythological scene. Salmoneus, king of Elis, pretended to be Zeus by imitating the sound of thunder and the appearance of lightning. Angered at his impudence, here Zeus strikes Salmoneus dead with a real lightning bolt.
Date
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Gift of Philip D. Armour and Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number
1889.16
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William M.R. French, Notes [on a] journey to Europe with Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Hutchinson starting from New York Sat’y Mch. 9, 1889- , (unpublished manuscript, Art Institute of Chicago Archives), p. 23.
Art Institute of Chicago, Preliminary Catalogue of Metal Work, Graeco-Italian Vases, and Antiquities, December 9, 1889 (Chicago: Early and Halla Printing Company, 1889), pp. 36-7, no. 301.
Ernest Gardner, “Vase in Chicago Representing the Madness of Athamas,” American Journal of Archaeology, 2nd series, vol. III (1899), pp. 331-344, Plate 4.
C. Robert, “Zur Oidipussage”, Apophoreton. Versammlung deutscher Philologen und Schülmänner 47 (1903), pp. 105-6.
n.a. “Salmoneo,” Enciclopedia dell’arte antica classica VI (1965), pp. 1076, fig. 1185.
M. Robertson, “Monocrepis,” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies (GRBS) vol. 13 (1972), p. 44.
Martin Robertson, A History of Greek Art (London; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1976), pp. 246 and 659 n. 154, pl. 85b.
K. Schefold, Die Göttersage in der klassischen und hellenistischen Kunst (Munich 1981), p. 158 fig. 211.
K.W. Arafat, Classical Zeus: A Study in Art and Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990), pp. 200, 205, plate 38 (ill.).
Martin Robertson, The Art of Vase-Painting in Classical Athens (London; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 149, 150 (ill.).
Hans Christoph Ackermann, Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC) vol. 7 (Artemis-Verlag, 1994), sv Salmoneus, pp. 654-5 no. 6 (E. Simon).
R. Krumeich, N. Pechstein and B. Seidensticker (eds.), Das griechishe Satyrspiel (Darmstadt 1999), pp. 385-6.
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 18.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Greek Vase Painting in Midwestern Collections, Number 98, December 22, 1980-February 24, 1980.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Myth and Legend in Classical Art, Gallery 101A, March 1, 1987-August 31, 1987.
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Human Figure in Greek and Roman Art: From the Permanent Collection, Part 2, Gallery 120A, January 13, 1989-September 24, 1989.
The Art Institute of Chicago, The First Year of the Classical Collection, Gallery 101A, October 3, 1989-January 2, 1991.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155, April 20, 1994-February 6, 2012.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, November 11, 2012-present.
Said to be found in Nola [Old Register at the Art Institute of Chicago]. Augusto Mele, Naples, Italy, by 1889; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago through J.C. Fletcher as agent, 1889; price reimbursed by Charles Hutchinson and Philip D. Armour, 1889.
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