Detail of a Lekythos from Gela with a Poet in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, January 2018

Oil flask (lekythos) with poet reciting with a lyre

Painter of Goluchow 37

Greek

Early Classical Period

about 480–470 B.C.

Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens

Medium/Technique: Ceramic, Red Figure

Dimensions: Height: 39.2 cm (15 7/16 in.)

Credit Line: Bartlett Collection—Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912

Accession Number: 13.199

Collections: Ancient Greece and Rome

Classifications: Vessels

Catalogue Raisonné Caskey-Beazley, Attic Vase Paintings (MFA), no. 099.

Description: Poet reciting to the accompaniment of the lyre. He stands in profile to left, leaning back and looking up, holding lyre with left hand, plectrum in raised right. He is bearded and wears Ionic dress (chiton), cloak (himation) and headdress (sakkos). A dotted fillet hangs from lyre. Scholars have considered the possibility that this figure is intended to represent the poet Anakreon of Lesbos, because of his eastern dress and lyre (barbiton). The soundbox, made from a tortoise shell, can be seen under his arm.

Provenance: By 1912: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: From Gela. Said to have been found with [13.198].); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, January 2, 1913, for $18,948.70 (this figure is the total price for MFA 13.186-13.245)

Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/153789/oil-flask-lekythos-with-poet-reciting-with-a-lyre