London E 178 (Vase)
Judgment of Paris
- ID:
- aa_5224
- Beazley Number:
- 205649
- Type:
- Vase
- Date:
- ca. 460
- Period:
- Early Classical
- Ceramic Phase:
- Severe Style
- Context:
- Capua
- Region:
- Campania
- Painter:
- Attributed to the Painter of the Yale Oinochoe
- Dimensions:
-
H 0.330m
- Ware:
- Attic Red Figure
- Shape:
- Hydria
Decoration Description
On the right Paris sits, holding a chelys (lyre) on a rocky outcrop, rather like a natural throne. He is beardless with long hair and a fringe of curls round his forehead. He wears a fillet and a himation which is draped over his arms. At his feet a mountain ram faces right, its fleece indicated with arrow-shaped marks. Three goddesses enter the scene, approaching him in single file from the left. First and closest to him is Hera in a bordered chiton with long sleeves and a himation with a sakkos and earrings on her head. She extends an apple to him with her left hand and holds the scepter of authority, surmounted with a honeysuckle flower, in her right. Following behind her comes Athena, in a long chiton, with her mantle or himation hanging in pteryges (wing-like folds) and her aegis, dotted and bordered with a fringe of snakes. On her head she wears a fillet and earrings. Her left hand is obscured by Hera, but her right holds a spear. She looks back to the right at Aphrodite who approaches last. The goddess of love wears a long chiton, a mantle which discreetly covers her arms and the back of her head, and a dotted fillet. Each of the goddesses has a wavy loop of hair brought forward over the temples.
On the curved outer surface of the rim there is an egg pattern. The design curves up over the shoulder. Above and below the main design there are bands in which two meanders, running to the left, alternate with dotted cross squares.
- Collection:
- London, British Museum
Castellani, 1873.
