About the Artwork
The amphora is a fine example of the vessels presented to the winner of an event in the athletic games held every four years in Athens. On one side Athena, the patron goddess, is shown as protector, wearing an archaic form of helmet and carrying a shield and spear. On the other side four male figures are shown running, indicating that the prize was for the winner of a foot race. An inscription running vertically down the vessel records the amphora as a prize "From the games in Athens."
Panathenaic Amphora
between 375 and 370 BCE
Attributed to Asteios Group
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Greek
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Clay
Overall (vessel): 28 × 15 1/4 inches (71.1 × 38.7 cm) Overall (lid): 5 3/4 × 8 5/8 inches (14.6 × 21.9 cm) Overall (with lid): 33 3/4 × 15 1/4 in. (85.7 × 38.7 cm)
Ceramics
Greco-Roman and Ancient European
Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund
50.193
Public Domain
Markings
Inscribed, vertically along left column: TONAQENEQENAQLON (a prize from the games at Athens)
Provenance
found at Cyrene;collection Richard Norton (Boston, Massachusetts, USA and Rome, Italy).
1909, loaned to Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Loan #MFA 368.09 (Boston, Massachusetts, USA).
dealer, Charles L. Morley (New York, New York, USA);
1950-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Robinson, F.W. "Recent Acquisitions of Ancient and Medieval Art." Bulletin of the DIA 31, 3/4 (1951-1952): pp. 58-80 (repr.).
Beazley, J. D. Attic Black-figure Vase Painters. Oxford, 1956, p. 412, no. 3 [attribution to Asteios Group]
Cummings, F. J., and C.H. Elam., eds. DIA Handbook.Detroit, 1971, pp. 10, 33.
Greek Vase-Painting in Midwestern Collections. Chicago, 1979 - 1980, pp. 222-223, cat. 125. [exh. organized by W. G. Moon and L. Berge]
Eschbach, N. Statuen auf Panathenäischen Preisamphoren des 4. Jhs v. Chr., Mainz. 1986, p. 19, cat. 21, (pl. 5, nos. 1-2, figs. 9,10).
Meyer, M. "Review of Statuen auf Panathenäischen Preisamphoren des 4. Jhr. v. Chr. by N. Eschbach." Gnomen 59 (1987): pp. 142-145.
Carpenter, T.H., T. Mannack, and M. Mendonça. Oxford, 1989, p. 107.
Valvanis, P. "La proclemation des vainquers aux Panatheénées." Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 114 (1990): p. 325-359, no. 10.
___________. Panathenaikoi amfreis apo tin Eretria. Athens, 1991, p. 58, no. 63; p. 68, no. 95; p. 94, no. 187; p. 115, no. 271; p. 120, no. 288; p. 325.
Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in ancient Athens. Princeton, 1992, pp. 33, 83, 160. [exh. organized by J. Neils]
Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995 p. 110 (repro.).
Hamilton, R., and J. Neils, ed. "Panathenaic Amphoras: The Other Side." Worshipping Athena: Panathenaia and Parthenon. Madison, 1996, pp. 152-53.
Bentz, M. "Panathenäische Preisamphoren, Antike Kunst Beiheft 18 (supplement), 1998, p. 167.
Games for the Gods: The Greek Athlete and the Olympic Spirit. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, 2004, p. 172, cat. 26. [not in exhibition]
Madigan, B. Corinthian and Attic Vases in the Detroit Institute of Arts. Monumenta Graeca et Romana, Vol. 12, Leiden, 2008, pp. 15-16, cat. 23 (figs. 24-25).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
attributed to Asteios Group, Panathenaic Amphora, between 375 and 370 BCE, clay. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund, 50.193.
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