Kylix (drinking cup): Preparation for the Hoplitodromos (Armed Race) | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1972.39
People: Attributed to Onesimos, Greek (active 500-480 BCE)
Title: Kylix (drinking cup): Preparation for the Hoplitodromos (Armed Race)
Classification: Vessels
Work Type: vessel
Date: 490-480 BCE
Places: Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Athens (Attica)
Period: Classical period, Early
Culture: Greek
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/287376

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Terracotta
Technique: Red-figure
Dimensions: 9.9 x 23.9 cm (3 7/8 x 9 7/16 in.)
max. with handles: 10.1 x 31.3 cm (4 x 12 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History: Said to come from Greece. Private collection of Joseph Brummer to Frederick M. Watkins, 1948; Bequest to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1972.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number: Beazley Archive Database #203306

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Frederick M. Watkins
Accession Year: 1972
Object Number: 1972.39
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions: The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description: Red-figure kylix (drinking cup); recomposed from fragments.

Interior: a hoplitodromos (armed runner), nude with a scraggly beard and mustache, prepares for the race. His head is bound by a wool sash and a small filet, which the artist added in red paint. The man’s equipment for the race is strewn around him in the tondo: a helmet rests on a shield on the left; two greaves are on the right. Above the greaves hang two jumping weights (halteres). The emblem on the shield is mostly lost, but what remains suggests that it matches those of the shields on the exterior. Between the helmet and the man’s hip is the damaged inscription ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ [.....] ("the boy ....").

Exterior: hoplitodromoi. Side A: a trainer (paidotribe) with walking stick and switch instructs two nude athletes who are fully equipped with helmets, greaves, and shields; the shields have a leaf-shaped emblem. Behind the athlete on the left is a pick. The phrase ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ ΚΑΛΟΣ ("the boy is beautiful") is inscribed between the left and center figures. Side B: three nude athletes equipped with helmets and greaves practice for the race. The youth on the right holds his shield, the one on the left is stepping on it; the emblems are again leaf-shaped. A discus in a bag hangs at the center. ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ is inscribed below the proper left arm of the leftmost runner.

Publication History

The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1973), pp. 58-61, no. 22
Ruth Balluff and Ulrich Hausmann, "Der Tübinger Waffenläufer." (Tübingen: Wasmuth, 1977), p. 42.
David Gordon Mitten and Amy Brauer, Dialogue with Antiquity, The Curatorial Achievement of George M. A. Hanfmann, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1982), p. 12, no. 18.
Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), p. 104, no. 115, ill.
V. Judson Harward, "From Museum to Monitor: The Visual Exploration of the Ancient World", The Classical Outlook: Journal of the American Classical League, ed. Richard LaFleur, American Classical League (Oxford, OH, Winter 1989-1990), Vol. 62, No. 2., pp. 42-44; p. 43, figs. 1, 3-5.
Jenifer Neils, Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens, exh. cat. (Princeton University Press, 1992), pp. 88-89.
Giorgos Kostouros, "Nemeōn athlōn diēgēsis: a tomos emmetros epichōrios logos meta scholiōn" (Nemea, 2008), p. 352.

Exhibition History

The Frederick M. Watkins Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 01/31/1973 - 03/14/1973
Dialogue with Antiquity: The Curatorial Achievement of George M.A. Hanfmann, Fogg Art Museum, 05/07/1982 - 06/26/1982
Fragments of Antiquity: Drawing Upon Greek Vases, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/15/1997 - 12/28/1997
HAA132e The Ideal of the Everyday in Greek Art (S427) Spring 2012, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2012 - 05/12/2012

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu