Kylix depicting athletic combats by Onesimos

Last updated September 27, 2023

The kylix depicting athletic combats is a ceramic drinking cup made approximately in the late Archaic period, 490 B.C., in Attica.^[1] It is currently in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston as part of The Ancient World Collections.^[1] The artist, Onesimos, used red-figure technique for the decoration, which was invented in Athens around 530 B.C. and quickly became one of the leading modes of decoration Athenian potters used.^[2] Red-figure technique was favored because it allowed for a greater representation of garments, emotions and anatomy making it useful for artists, such as Onesimos, to use in painting athletic events.^[2]

Onesimos

Onesimos was an artist who worked in Athens from 500 to 480 B.C.^[3] His name means "profitable" and it is speculated that is could have been a nickname^[3] His name is known because of a cup that was found which also held the signature of the potter Euphronios. He almost exclusively painted cups and he favored realistic portrayals of the human body often painting athletic events and other activities that allowed for him to depict active poses.^[4]

Depictions

The exterior sides of this kylix holds depictions for two athletic events: the pancration and a wrestling match. The pancration was a popular athletic event in Ancient Greece and was introduced in 648 BCE to the Olympic Games.^[5] The word pancration can be broken down into pan meaning all and kratos meaning strength or power and it was a form of ancient martial arts that combined both wrestling and boxing.^[5] In Onesimos' depiction of the pancration there are two young boys wrestling, their youth evident from their lack of facial hair, and there are two trainers, one on either side of them. One trainer is standing and the other is sitting next to a column that is holding what appears to be a prize cauldron.^[1] There is also another young boy standing next to the standing trainer. Scenes of the pancration were common among red-figure vessels depicting athletic events as is seen by the pancration scene by the Foundry Painter.

The other athletic event depicted is boxing. There are also two young boys with no facial hair engaged in the athletic act with the one on the left facing frontally towards the viewer. They being observed by a trainer on the left with a staff and staves in his hand and another young boy on the right. The boy standing on the right observing the young boxers appears to be in a stance of measuring the field and is also a mirror image of the boy observing in the pancration scene.^[6] In the background around the scene there are different objects that would typically be used in athletic events such as a two mattocks, a discus bag which appears to be on a wall, and jumping weights.^[1]

The tondo or the interior of this kylix holds an image on a youth holding a hare. His face is frontal facing the viewer and he is wearing a himation or a cloak around his shoulders and there is a walking stick in the background.^[1]

Inscriptions

On the pancration scene there is one inscription that reads "Panaitios kalos" which is translated to "Panaitios is handsome".^[1] In many of his kalos inscriptions, Onesimos uses the name Panaitios which misled many to believe that there was a Panaitios Painter whose work was earlier than Onesimos. It is now accepted, however, that the Panaitos Painter and Onesimos are the same.^[4] In the boxing scene there are two inscriptions; one reading "Lukos kalos" or "Lykos is handsome" and the other on the discus bag reading "Kalos" or "handsome".^[1] The final inscription is found in the tondo and it reads "Ho pais kalos" or "The boy is handsome".^[1]

Connection between kylixes and athletic training

Greek kylixes and other vessels during the Archaic period frequently depicted activities such as athletic training events that were favored by their users, the majority of which were part of the aristocracy.^[7] Kylixes where often used at symposiums which were all male drinking parties. Symposiums were considered an integral part of Greek culture and was an activity reserved for only the most elite of society.^[8] The party was held in a private home where the men would get together to drink, eat, sing and discuss various topics such as philosophy and politics; the only women who were allowed to attend were high-class entertainers. It was an activity that served to reinforce the status and bond of the aristocracy.^[8] Athletic events were also an important part of Greek culture as they believed in the importance of training their bodies just as much as they trained their minds.^[9] The Grecian youths of elite families would train under athletic trainers at a palaestra or a wrestling school.^[9] These training sessions where a key part of youth socialization in society.^[7]

Related Research Articles

In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix is the most common type of cup in the period, usually associated with the drinking of wine. The cup often consists of a rounded base and a thin stem under a basin. The cup is accompanied by two handles on opposite sides.

In Ancient Greece, the symposium was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, or conversation. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara. Symposia are depicted in Greek and Etruscan art that shows similar scenes.

An aryballos was a small spherical or globular flask with a narrow neck used in Ancient Greece. It was used to contain perfume or oil, and is often depicted in vase paintings being used by athletes during bathing. In these depictions, the vessel is at times attached by a strap to the athlete's wrist, or hung by a strap from a peg on the wall.

Euphronios was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter, active in Athens in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. As part of the so-called "Pioneer Group,", Euphronios was one of the most important artists of the red-figure technique. His works place him at the transition from Late Archaic to Early Classical art, and he is one of the first known artists in history to have signed his work.

Douris or Duris was an ancient Athenian red-figure vase-painter and potter active c. 500 to 460 BCE.

Epiktetos was an Attic vase painter in the early red-figure style. Besides Oltos, he was the most important painter of the Pioneer Group. He was active between 520 BC and 490 BC. His name translates as "newly acquired", which is most probably a reference to his slave status.

The Antimenes Painter was an Attic vase painter of the black-figure style, active between circa 530 and 510 BC.

Onesimos was an ancient Athenian vase painter who flourished c. 500–480 BC. He specialized in decorating cups, mostly of Type B, which comprise virtually all known examples of his work.

Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterized largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, c. 900–700 BC. Its center was in Athens, and from there the style spread among the trading cities of the Aegean. The Greek Dark Ages lasted from c. 1100 to 750 BC and include two periods, the Protogeometric period and the Geometric period, in reference to the characteristic pottery style. The vases had various uses or purposes within Greek society, including, but not limited to, funerary vases and symposium vases.

The Brygos Painter was an ancient Greek Attic red-figure vase painter of the Late Archaic period. Together with Onesimos, Douris and Makron, he is among the most important cup painters of his time. He was active in the first third of the 5th century BCE, especially in the 480s and 470s BCE. He was a prolific artist to whom over two hundred vases have been attributed, but he is perhaps best known for the Brygos Cup, a red-figure kylix in the Louvre which depicts the "iliupersis" or sack of Troy.

The Amasis Painter was an ancient Greek vase painter who worked in the black-figure technique. He owes his name to the signature of the potter Amasis, who signed twelve works painted by the same hand. At the time of the exhibition, "The Amasis Painter and His World" (1985), 132 vases had been attributed to this artist.

The Antiphon Painter was an Athenian vase painter of the early 5th century BC. He owes his name to a double Kalos inscription of Antiphon on the dinos stand in the Antique collection of Berlin. He was active between 500 and 475 BC in Athens as a painter of the red-figure style in the largest workshop of the 5th century. He learned his handicraft in the workshop of Euphronios and Onesimos. There he worked closely with them, the Kalmarer Painter and other painters.

A kalos inscription (καλός) is a form of epigraph found on Attic vases and graffiti in antiquity, mainly during the Classical period from 550 to 450 BC. The word kalos (καλός) means "beautiful", and in the inscriptions it had an erotic connotation.

The Berlin Foundry Cup is a red-figure kylix from the early 5th century BC. It is the name vase of the Attic vase painter known conventionally as the Foundry Painter. Its most striking feature is the exterior depiction of activities in an Athenian bronze workshop or foundry. It is an important source on ancient Greek metal-working technology.

Eucharides Painter is the common nickname of an ancient Greek artist who decorated but did not sign Attic vases. Neither his real name, nor the dates of his birth and death are known. Presumably this artist was a pupil of the Nikoxenos Painter.

The Bryn Mawr Painter is the name given to an Attic Greek red-figure vase painter, active in the late Archaic period.

Athletics were an important part of the cultural life of Ancient Greeks. Depictions of boxing and bull-leaping can be found back to the Bronze Age. Buildings were created for the sole use of athletics including stadia, palaestrae, and gymnasiums. Starting in the Archaic period, Panhellenic Games, including the Olympic Games, begin taking place each year. These games gave people from all over Greece the chance to gain fame for their athletic prowess. Athletics in Greece became one of the most commonly depicted scenes of everyday life in their art.

The bilingual eye-cup by the Andokides painter in the Museo Archeologico Regionale, Palermo, is a prime example of the transition from black-figure vase painting to the red-figure style in the late 6th century to early 5th century BC that commonly resulted in "bilingual" vases, using both styles. The Andokides painter created the red-figure style of pottery as we know it today during his working years from 530–515 BC. Starting around 530 BC the Andokides painter produced red-figure amphorae and a bilingual kylix. Fewer than 20 vases survive by the Andokides painter but they span 30-40 years of his career, allowing historians to trace the development of his painting styles. One of the earliest mentions of the Andokides painter was on a black-figure hydria by Timagoras around 550 BC, when the Andokides painter must have been an apprentice.

The kylix depicting pentathletes is an example of pottery and decoration from the late Archaic period. This piece is decorated both around the outside of the vessel and on the tondo inside with images of different events from the pentathlon. The drinking kylix is decorated in the red-figure style and is credited to the Proto-Panaitian group. It is currently at the Boston Museum for Fine Arts as part of their Ancient Greek collection.

The Athenian Band Cup is an Attic Greek kylix attributed to the Oakeshott Painter. It is further classified as a band cup, a type of Little-Master cup.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Drinking cup (kylix) depicting athletic combats". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
1 2 Department of Greek and Roman Art. "Athenian Vase Painting: Black- and Red-Figure Techniques | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
1 2 "Onesimos (Greek (Attic), active 500 - 480 B.C.) (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
1 2 Campbell, Gordon (2007). Onesimos - Oxford Reference. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195300826.001.0001. ISBN 9780195300826.
1 2 Nenova, Stella (February 9, 2016). "Pankration". World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2017-10-27.
↑ Vermeule, Cornelius C. (1980). "Masterpieces of Greek Vase Painting, about 1900 B.C.-340 B.C". MFA Bulletin. 78: 22–37. JSTOR 4171628.
1 2 "Attic Red-Figure Kylix (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
1 2 "Symposium". World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2017-12-02.
1 2 "Ancient Olympic FAQ 6". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2017-12-02.

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[ref1-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Drinking cup (kylix) depicting athletic combats". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2017-10-29.

[Author-2] 1 2 Department of Greek and Roman Art. "Athenian Vase Painting: Black- and Red-Figure Techniques | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 2017-10-22.

[Getty1-3] 1 2 "Onesimos (Greek (Attic), active 500 - 480 B.C.) (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2017-10-29.

[Onesimos_-_Oxford_Reference-4] 1 2 Campbell, Gordon (2007). Onesimos - Oxford Reference. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195300826.001.0001. ISBN 9780195300826.

[Nenova-5] 1 2 Nenova, Stella (February 9, 2016). "Pankration". World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2017-10-27.

[6] Vermeule, Cornelius C. (1980). "Masterpieces of Greek Vase Painting, about 1900 B.C.-340 B.C". MFA Bulletin. 78: 22–37. JSTOR 4171628.

[getty.edu-7] 1 2 "Attic Red-Figure Kylix (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2017-12-03.

[symp-8] 1 2 "Symposium". World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2017-12-02.

[FAQ6-9] 1 2 "Ancient Olympic FAQ 6". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2017-12-02.

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