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Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
A. Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Cambridge, 1882, p. 499, no. 97.
The myth of the chariot race of Pelops and King Oinomaos, the contest in which the Greek hero won the hand of the Peloponnesian king's daughter, Hippodameia, by bribing his charioteer, Myrtilos, to remove the linchpins of his master's chariot, was a popular subject for Etruscan alabaster cinerary urns. For related examples, see the Art Museum, Princeton University, acc. no. Y1986-68, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence, inv. no. 168, Museo Guarnacci, Volterra, inv. no. 178, and M. Cristofani et al., Corpus delle urne etrusche di etá ellenistica, vol. 1, urne Volterrane, Part 1, I complessi tombali, Florence, 1975, nos 73-74. Despite this, the present example is unique in its depiction not of the chaotic end of the contest, but of the start of the race. Pelops is shown mounting his quadriga, which is drawn by the four magical horses gifted to him by his lover, Poseidon, and he turns to speak either with Oinomaos or, more likely, to Myrtilos, perhaps to finalise their scheme. Though capturing a moment of calm before the death and destruction that followed, this scene does provide the viewer with a clue to Oinomaos's impending doom: the demon, Taraxippus, identifiable by his circular shield and diadem, lurks at the extremity of the scene, a nod to the disaster that will befall the horses of Oinomaos's chariot.
A. Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Cambridge, 1882, p. 499, no. 97.
The myth of the chariot race of Pelops and King Oinomaos, the contest in which the Greek hero won the hand of the Peloponnesian king's daughter, Hippodameia, by bribing his charioteer, Myrtilos, to remove the linchpins of his master's chariot, was a popular subject for Etruscan alabaster cinerary urns. For related examples, see the Art Museum, Princeton University, acc. no. Y1986-68, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence, inv. no. 168, Museo Guarnacci, Volterra, inv. no. 178, and M. Cristofani et al., Corpus delle urne etrusche di etá ellenistica, vol. 1, urne Volterrane, Part 1, I complessi tombali, Florence, 1975, nos 73-74. Despite this, the present example is unique in its depiction not of the chaotic end of the contest, but of the start of the race. Pelops is shown mounting his quadriga, which is drawn by the four magical horses gifted to him by his lover, Poseidon, and he turns to speak either with Oinomaos or, more likely, to Myrtilos, perhaps to finalise their scheme. Though capturing a moment of calm before the death and destruction that followed, this scene does provide the viewer with a clue to Oinomaos's impending doom: the demon, Taraxippus, identifiable by his circular shield and diadem, lurks at the extremity of the scene, a nod to the disaster that will befall the horses of Oinomaos's chariot.