MANNER OF THE ANTIPHON PAINTER, CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.

The komos, the ritualistic wine-soaked procession after a symposium, was a favorite subject for vase-painters on drinking vessels. The komast depicted in this tondo is in a state of euphoria; he dances with one foot in the air, balancing a skyphos in his right hand and holding a walking stick in his left. An inscription reading HO PAIS KALOS ("the boy is beautiful") is in the field. For a related scene and a discussion of the subject, see fig. 13, pp. 139-147 in J. Oakley, The Greek Vase: Art of the Storyteller.