Looking ahead, I cannot see myself having much free time until Thanksgiving. This makes me want to vomit. That sensation, which is not uncommon to me these days, reminded me of this delightful red-figure kylix fragment that I saw in the Getty Villa in the summer of 2010 (see below).
(Red figure kylix fragment from Athens, c. 500 BCE; terracotta; painting attributed to Onesimos; Malibu, CA, Getty Villa.)
As I said, this piece was part of a kylix, a generic example of which I have included below. You can see that a kylix is a broad, fairly shallow cup. It was used by the ancient Greeks for drinking wine. Such a vessel would often have two handles on opposite sides, situated just under the rim, and sat on a foot that would have been formed separately from the bowl by the potter, but attached before firing. They were often decorated with paintings on both the outer and inner surfaces.
(Side view of a typical kylix. This particular example is decorated in the black-figure style.)
What is so ingenious and witty about the kylix from which the fragment in the Getty Villa comes is that the painting of the man - bent over, supporting himself on a walking stick, and unceremoniously chundering - is placed at the bottom of the inside of the bowl. Thus, it would have only become visible to the man using the vessel as he was finishing his wine, perhaps as a sign of things to come. I say specifically "the man using the vessel" because Greek men would get together for drinking and revelry at gatherings called symposia (singular: symposium), at which women were not permitted. Well, that's not entirely true. Certain women called hetairai (singular: hetaera) were allowed at symposia. These were prositutes, in essence, but classy ones. They could play music and hold intelligent conversations that the men could not have with their wives.
Greek pottery that would have been used at symposia is often decorated with relevant subject matter. In addition to men vomiting, hetairai were frequently depicted, sometimes doing their thing (and I don't mean playing music). Dionysos and his followers - satyrs and maenads - were also popular subjects. In fact, much of my masters thesis consists of me pointing out the generous endowments of satyrs depicted on ancient Greek pottery, an investigative task for which one does not need a very keen eye, as I hope to demonstrate on another occasion.
So, all this to say that I will periodically, though probably not regularly, post an amusing vase painting. It is one of my favorite art forms and I also think that it is a wonderful counter to the idea that the art and literature of antiquity is irrelevant, or completely alien to our contemporary experience. For, as I stated at the outset, I can empathize deeply with this fellow at this moment, though I begrudge him the fact that his disgorgement was alcohol induced and mine stems simply from quotidian experience.
(Published originally on October 21st, 2011.)
(Red figure kylix fragment from Athens, c. 500 BCE; terracotta; painting attributed to Onesimos; Malibu, CA, Getty Villa.)
As I said, this piece was part of a kylix, a generic example of which I have included below. You can see that a kylix is a broad, fairly shallow cup. It was used by the ancient Greeks for drinking wine. Such a vessel would often have two handles on opposite sides, situated just under the rim, and sat on a foot that would have been formed separately from the bowl by the potter, but attached before firing. They were often decorated with paintings on both the outer and inner surfaces.
(Side view of a typical kylix. This particular example is decorated in the black-figure style.)
What is so ingenious and witty about the kylix from which the fragment in the Getty Villa comes is that the painting of the man - bent over, supporting himself on a walking stick, and unceremoniously chundering - is placed at the bottom of the inside of the bowl. Thus, it would have only become visible to the man using the vessel as he was finishing his wine, perhaps as a sign of things to come. I say specifically "the man using the vessel" because Greek men would get together for drinking and revelry at gatherings called symposia (singular: symposium), at which women were not permitted. Well, that's not entirely true. Certain women called hetairai (singular: hetaera) were allowed at symposia. These were prositutes, in essence, but classy ones. They could play music and hold intelligent conversations that the men could not have with their wives.
Greek pottery that would have been used at symposia is often decorated with relevant subject matter. In addition to men vomiting, hetairai were frequently depicted, sometimes doing their thing (and I don't mean playing music). Dionysos and his followers - satyrs and maenads - were also popular subjects. In fact, much of my masters thesis consists of me pointing out the generous endowments of satyrs depicted on ancient Greek pottery, an investigative task for which one does not need a very keen eye, as I hope to demonstrate on another occasion.
So, all this to say that I will periodically, though probably not regularly, post an amusing vase painting. It is one of my favorite art forms and I also think that it is a wonderful counter to the idea that the art and literature of antiquity is irrelevant, or completely alien to our contemporary experience. For, as I stated at the outset, I can empathize deeply with this fellow at this moment, though I begrudge him the fact that his disgorgement was alcohol induced and mine stems simply from quotidian experience.
(Published originally on October 21st, 2011.)
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