The Berlin Painter and his World, Athenian Vase-Painting in the Early Fifth Century B.C.
This book is edited by Michael Padgett, who, so far as I know, has nothing to do with Friends Seminary. I chose to include this work because one of the contributing editors is Jennifer Udell, class of circa 80. The Berlin Painter, I have learned, has nothing to do with Germany. Nor with paint. He worked with clay making vases, over 300 of which are extant, decorated with red figures “painted” from red slip. He produced this impressive and beautiful opus during the fifth century BC in Athens. He was so named by Sir John Davidson Beazley, a renowned British archeologist and art historian, because of an artifact found in Berlin.
This is a big book – I weighed it, and it weighs 5 pounds. Ten essays by scholars situate the artist among others of his era, clarify his place in Athenian culture, discuss the scholarly issues his work raises, and generally show that the fifth century B.C. is still remarkably alive. The rest of the book is a Catalogue with entries on 84 works which are scattered about museums all over the world and a Catalogue raisonné. Jennifer contributed pieces on 5 noteworthy items in the collection.
Jennifer describes a Red-Figure Stamnos, with Athena depicted between Zeus and Hera. “Stamnos” is a new word for me and, like other new words I learned reading her entries, refers to a specific type of vase, in this case, one with no neck and a wide opening. On the other side of the stamnos, a warrior stands between an old, seated man and a young woman, as he prepares for battle.
There is a similarity between the configuration of the characters on the two sides and Jennifer points out that there is also a similarity of theme. In both cases there is a phiale and an oinochoe – two wine vessels –used in similar worship rituals. This points up what we always learned – that Greek gods are not very different from us mortals. This work is in New York at the Met; if you are visiting the museum, it would certainly be worth looking for. The only other work in the Met that Jennifer describes is Red-Figure Kalpis-Hydria, a water jar. It depicts Achilles battling the Amazon Queen Penthesilia, who joined the Trojan army.
My grandson liked the stamnos depicting Peleus bringing Achilles to the centaur, Chiron, to be tutored as it reminded him of his middle school brush with Percy Jackson (Perseus) whose teacher was also Chiron (played by Pierce Bronson.) To see this vase, you will have to go to Paris. The other works she describes are a Pelike depicting Demeter with flaming torches on one side and Tripolemos on a winged car on the other and an amphora showing a frightened Helen running from Menelaus during the Sack of Troy.
This book is a monument to the collaborative work of scholars who treasure and preserve what has gone before. I loved seeing the participation of a Friends’ alum (whom I remember well) in this ambitious undertaking.
