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Lot Essay
The Princeton Painter takes his name from an amphora of Panathenaic shape now in Princeton University Art Museum. 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 depicts an arming scene, in which a warrior fastens his greaves, with his high-crested Corinthian helmet on the ground before him. To his left stand an old man and a youth, and to his right a woman 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 depicts an arming scene, in which a warrior fastens his greaves, with his high-crested Corinthian helmet on the ground before him. To his left stand an old man and a youth, and to his right a woman 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.