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Lot Essay
The Princeton Painter takes his name from an amphora of Panathenaic shape now in The Art Museum, Princeton University. J.D. Beazley listed only 25 vases attributed to him in Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters (pp. 297-299), the majority of them Type B amphorae. M.B. Moore informs that the number has since increased to at least 40 (“Herakles Takes Aim: A Rare Attic Black-Figured Neck-Amphora Attributed to the Princeton Painter,” Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 48, no. 1, p. 49). The Princeton Painter was frequently economical in his use of florals, as on the amphora presented here, which only has a framing band of lotus-palmette chain across the top of the panels on each side. He liberally used added red and white for his figures, thus achieving a colorful appearance.
The Princeton Painter was a contemporary of the best black-figure painters, including Lydos, Exekias, the Amasis Painter and the Affecter. As Moore informs (op. cit., p. 50), the Princeton Painter “may not be as highly regarded by modern scholars as these artists are, but he deserves much more favorable recognition than he has received. He possessed admirable skill with stylus, brush, and color, combined with the imagination to depict various mythological subjects that are often unusual or inventive...”
One side of the vase presented here has an arming scene, in which a warrior is attaching grieves, his high-crested Corinthian helmet siting on the ground before him. To his left stand a mantled old man and a partially draped youth, and to his right a woman, clad in a chiton and himation, and a bearded man. On the other side is a departure scene with a warrior and charioteer driving a quadriga to the right. A draped woman stands before them, with a small child riding on her shoulders. Another warrior stands astride the horses, while a third stands at the far right looking on.
The Princeton Painter was a contemporary of the best black-figure painters, including Lydos, Exekias, the Amasis Painter and the Affecter. As Moore informs (op. cit., p. 50), the Princeton Painter “may not be as highly regarded by modern scholars as these artists are, but he deserves much more favorable recognition than he has received. He possessed admirable skill with stylus, brush, and color, combined with the imagination to depict various mythological subjects that are often unusual or inventive...”
One side of the vase presented here has an arming scene, in which a warrior is attaching grieves, his high-crested Corinthian helmet siting on the ground before him. To his left stand a mantled old man and a partially draped youth, and to his right a woman, clad in a chiton and himation, and a bearded man. On the other side is a departure scene with a warrior and charioteer driving a quadriga to the right. A draped woman stands before them, with a small child riding on her shoulders. Another warrior stands astride the horses, while a third stands at the far right looking on.