Lot Essay
This lively cup depicts three identical scenes of a horse and rider in profile, including on the tondo and both sides of the exterior. Each features a warrior wearing a chlamys, high-laced boots and a petasos hanging from a cord at his back, and holding two spears. Each horse is muscular and shown in motion, with its tail raised.
The Marlay Painter takes his name from the former owner of a calyx-krater now in the Fitzwilliam Museum. He was chiefly a painter of cups, often depicting symposia scenes. As Hornbostel hypothesizes, perhaps the Marlay Painter was inspired to compose scenes of horses and riders based upon the Parthenon frieze, constructed 447-438 B.C., contemporaneous with this vase.
The Marlay Painter takes his name from the former owner of a calyx-krater now in the Fitzwilliam Museum. He was chiefly a painter of cups, often depicting symposia scenes. As Hornbostel hypothesizes, perhaps the Marlay Painter was inspired to compose scenes of horses and riders based upon the Parthenon frieze, constructed 447-438 B.C., contemporaneous with this vase.