Side A: head of Sinis

Side A: Sinis, upper half

Side B: draped youth

Side A: Theseus

Handle: right of side A

Side A: tree held by Theseus

Collection: Cambridge, Harvard University Art Museums
Summary: Side A: Theseus and Sinis. Side B: Draped youth.
Ware: Attic Red Figure
Painter: Attributed to the Alkimachos Painter
Date: ca. 470 BC - ca. 460 BC
Dimensions:

H. 0.327 m.; D. 0.175 m.

Primary Citation: ARV2, 529, 7.
Shape: Nolan amphora
Beazley Number: 205978
Period: Early Classical


Condition:

Unbroken and in good condition; some scratches and abrasion, particularly on Side B.

Decoration Description:

Side A: Theseus is about to kill Sinis by the same method used by the brigand when dispatching his own victims: he has bent down a fir tree and will use its tension to tear Sinis to pieces. With his left hand the hero holds the bent tree, its leaves and branches rendered in added red, and with the other hand clutches the wrist of Sinis, who falls backwards to the right, clinging for life to the trunk of the fir. The brigand is nude and wears a red wreath in his wild, unkempt hair. Theseus wears a belted chitoniskos and a red wreath. Between the figures is a nonsense inscription in two lines. Side B: A youth with a red wreath in his hair is walking to the right, but looking back to the left. He is completely mantled in his himation, which covers both hands.

The rest of the vase is black, except for the reserved lower edge of the foot and the groundlines below the figures, each of the latter consisting of a band of linked maeanders to right.

Shape Description:

Nolan amphora with triple handles.

Graffiti:

On the bottom of the foot: *N*V. See Johnston 1979, 157, Type 9F, 4. The same graffito appears on three other vases by the Alkimachos Painter: ARV2, 530, nos. 16, 18, and 25.

Collection History:

Gift of Mr. E. P. Warren.

Sources Used:

CVA, Fogg-Gallatin.

Other Bibliography:

CVA, Fogg-Gallatin, USA 8, 33, pl. 16, 1;