1927.154: Oinochoe (wine pitcher): Two Warriors in Combat; Hermes and Giant (?)

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1927.154

People

Near to The Athena Painter, Greek

Title

Oinochoe (wine pitcher): Two Warriors in Combat; Hermes and Giant (?)

Classification

Vessels

Work Type

vessel

Date

500 BCE-480 BCE

Places

Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Attica

Period

Archaic period, Late, to Early Classical

Culture

Greek

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/291169

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Terracotta, white ground

Technique

Black-figure

Dimensions

25.3 x 14 cm (9 15/16 x 5 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Edward Perry Warren, Esq., London (by 1927), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1927.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number

Beazley Archive Database #330836

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Edward P. Warren, Esq.

Accession Year

1927

Object Number

1927.154

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

Black-figure oinochoe with trefoil mouth. White ground panel on the front of the vessel depicts two figures in combat: Hermes and a giant. On the left, Hermes lunges forward, plunging his sword into the nude, bearded giant who turns to look back at his attacker as he falls to his knee. He holds a rounded shield in defense and wears a Corinthian helmet pushed back on his head. Engaged in action, Hermes wears a short chiton, cloak, high boots, and a petasos. A small lion leaps towards the giant from Hermes' feet.

The vessel is intact with added red details throughout including Hermes' beard, spear, and patterning on his cloak. The white ground panel is banded on the top and both sides by several rows of ornamental patterns. Red stripes circle the neck, lower body, and edge of the foot.

Publication History

• Joseph Clark Hoppin and Albert Gallatin, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, U.S.A.: volume 1, Hoppin and Gallatin Collections, Libraire Ancienne Edouard Champion (Paris, 1926)
• J. D. Beazley, Attic Black-figure Vases, The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England, 1956)
• Thomas Carpenter, Thomas Mannack, and Melanie Mendonca, ed., Beazley addenda : additional references to ABV, ARV² & Paralipomena, Oxford University Press (UK) (Oxford, 1989)
• Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), Artemis (Zürich, Switzerland, 1999), Vol. 4, Gigantes 295; Vol. 5, Hermes 827.
• Emamanuel Abetel, La Gigantomachie de Lousonna-Vidy (Lausanne, 2007)

Exhibition History

• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/22/2016 - 01/08/2017
• A Colloquium in the Visual Arts , Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/02/2022
• A Colloquium in the Visual Arts, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/27/2022 - 12/30/2022

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