Detail of a Black-Figure Amphora with a Chariot Attributed to Exekias in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, July 2011

Two-handled jar (amphora) depicting the harnessing of a chariot

Exekias

Greek

Archaic Period

about 540 B.C.

Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens

Medium/Technique Ceramic, black-figure technique

Dimensions Height: 52.5 cm (20 11/16 in.); diameter 37.3 cm (14 11/16 in.)

Credit Line Museum purchase with funds donated by contribution

Accession Number: 89.273a-b

Collections: Ancient Greece and Rome

Classifications: Vessels

Catalogue Raisonné CVA Boston 1, pl. 29-32.

Description: On the obverse, a nude attendant struggles to harness a rearing horse, grasping and pulling down on his bridle. The horse in the foreground is already harnessed, calmed by another attendant who strokes his mane and nose. A man in a long himation holds the reins of the harnessed horse and stands behind the chariot. Women observe the harnessing scene from either side. On the reverse, an attendant holds the bridle of another horse. At right, an armed warrior followed by a woman carrying his spear walks beside a bridled horse, who approaches a man with his hand raised. The horses and warrior on the reverse may be approaching the chariot on the obverse to be united in preparation for battle. Above the primary scenes on the belly is a continuous frieze showing cock fights observed by young men and flanked by lions and tripods. Below, in the predella, alternating lions and boars circle the vase.

Provenance: By 1889: with Pio Marinangeli, Rome (said to have been found at Corneto); March 1889: purchased by R. Lanciani from Pio Marinangeli; purchased by MFA from R. Lanciani, 1889

Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/153390/twohandled-jar-amphora-depicting-the-harnessing-of-a-char