Amphora (Storage Jar)

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Edward Hopper

530/520 BC

Greek; Athens
Close to the style of the Antimenes Painter

The Greek Symposium
The modern symposium is an academic gathering where people discuss a topic of common interest, debunking old theories and putting forth new hypotheses. Afterward the participants might continue the conversation, discussing their impressions in greater detail or simply socializing over a drink. The men of ancient Athens did the same, regularly coming together in a private home to exchange ideas. The vases displayed in this case were used to prepare, serve, and consume wine at such gatherings. As the evening progressed, participants engaged in other pleasures, including games, performances, and sex.

It was considered uncivilized for a Greek to consume undiluted wine, so water was fetched from a public fountain house in a jar like this example. The horizontal handles were used to carry the vase, which was quite heavy when full, and the vertical handle at the back was used to pour the water.

The neck of this storage jar is decorated on either side with the frontal face, or mask, of a bearded satyr, framed by black vines and wreathed in ivy tendrils. The mask may have served a protective function or been inspired by masks used in dramatic performances. It may also have simply provided amusement to the ancient viewer. Sometimes the body of this type of vessel featured frontal faces of satyrs and Dionysos staring boldly outward. Such vessels were regularly used at symposia and may have contained undiluted wine. This example’s lid is now missing.

On View: Ancient and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151

Artist: Ancient Greek
Title: Amphora (Storage Jar)
Origin: Athens
Date: 530 AD–520 AD
Medium: terracotta, black-figure technique on white-ground
Dimensions: H. 39.4 cm (15 1/8 in.); diam. 27.7 cm (10 7/8 in.)
Credit Line: Costa A. Pandaleon Endowment
Reference Number: 1980.75

Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago, by Karen Manchester (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2012), p. 33.
E. Aston, Mixanthropoi, Animal-Human Hybrid Deities in Greek Religion (Liège 2011), p. 289, fig. 38.
J.M. Padget, ed., The Centaur’s Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art (New haven 2003) 246-8, no. 57 (K. Manchester).
John Griffiths Pedley, Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol. 20, no. 1 (1994), pp. 40-41 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report, 1979-80, p. 31 (ill.).
J. Mertens, Attic White-Ground: Its Development on Shapes Other Than Lekythoi (diss. New York, 1977) iv, Addenda and Corrigenda, to p. 56, C.

The Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 155, April 20, 1994 - October 2003 and May 2004- July 2009 and September 2009- February 6, 2012.
Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Art Museum,”The Centaur’s Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art”, Princeton University Art Museum, 11 October 2003 – 18 January 2004 and travel to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 22 February – 16 May 2004.
A Case for Wine: From King Tut to Today
July 11 – September 20, 2009. Regenstein Hall, The Art Institute of Chicago.
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 - June 30, 2015.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Dionysos Unmasked: Ancient Sculpture and Early Prints,” Gallery 150 and 154, July 31, 2015 - February 15, 2016.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 151, February 23, 2016 - present.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email .