Attic Black-figured Neck Amphora and Lid depicting Heracles Playing a Kithara (side a); Two Departing Warriors (side b)

Label

Herakles (known as Hercules in his Roman form) strums a kithara on one side of this large vessel. The kithara is a stringed musical instrument similar to a lyre, an unlikely accessory for a hero best known for his feats of strength. We can be certain that the scene depicts Herakles, however, because of the lion skin cape that references the demigod’s defeat of the Nemean lion. The opposite side of the vase features two warriors, one of whom seems to be exchanging farewells with a woman who stands between the two men. The two sides may work together to evoke Greek epics of warfare and heroism

This amphora entered the museum’s collection relatively recently, in 2016. Museums must be particularly careful when acquiring antiquities, which may have been looted or smuggled out of their country of origin. In this case, the extended provenance of the object, as seen below, allows the museum to be confident that it was sold legally and ethically.

From the 2024 exhibition Ancient Narratives: A New Look at Old Art, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

ARTH 11.01, Art in Ancient Greece, Ada Cohen, Fall 2019

HUM 2, The Modern Labyrinth, Timothy Baker, Winter 2020

SART 17.08, Digital Drawing, Karol Kawiaka, Fall 2020

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

COCO 26.01, What's in Your Toolbox?, Heidi Denzel and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2022

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Art History 11.01, Art in Ancient Greece, Ada Cohen, Fall 2023

Greek 1.01, Introductory Greek, Alexandra Schultz, Winter 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Floriana Ciniglia, Winter 2024

Religion 4.01, Jewish Studies 4.01, Religion of Israel: Hebrew Bible, Susan Ackerman, Winter 2024

Studio Art 16.01, Sculpture I, Matt Siegle, Winter 2024

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Geography 21.01, International Studies 18.01, Global Health and Society, Anne Sosin, Spring 2024

Classical Studies 10.16, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 66.37, Gender & Sexuality in Ancient Greece, Alexandra Schutlz, Spring 2024

Classical Studies 10.16, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 66.37, Gender & Sexuality in Ancient Greece, Alexandra Schultz, OPEN HOURS, Spring 2024

Classical Studies 12.02, Greek and Roman Engineering and Technology, Margaretha Kramer, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Ancient and Premodern Global Cultures, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019.

Global Cultures at the Hood: Ancient to Premodern, Gene Y. Kim Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26. 2019.

Greek Vases and Tanagra Figures, University Gallery, University of Minnesota, November 2-30, 1952

Greek Vases, University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 9-March 31, 1981.

Pots – an Eclectic Few, University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 16-April 3, 1992.

Publication History

William Chaffers, Catalogue of the Works of Antiquity and Art Collected by the Late William Henry Forman, Esqu., Pippbrook House, Dorking, Surrey, and removed in 1890 to Callaly Castle, Northumberland, by Major A.H. Browne, London, 1892, no. 597.

Michael Anderson, Greek Vases, exhibition catalogue, University Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1981, p. 10, cat. 1, cover illus.

Provenance

Collection of William Henry Forman (1794-1869), Pippbrook House, Dorking, Surrey; acquired by his nephew, Major Alexander H. Browne (1813-1894), Callaly Castle, Northumberland, 1890; with Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, "The Forman Collection, Catalogue of the Egyptian, Greek & Roman Antiquities, etc.," 19 June 1899, no. 297; sold to Henri De Morgan (1854-1909), New York, New York, 19 June 1899; with Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, "Catalogue of Greek Vases and Antique Iridescent Glass Cameos, Intaglios, and Silver Coins Selected and Catalogued by H. De Morgan," 16 January 1909, no. 134, illus.; sold to Thomas Barlow Walker (1840-1928), Minneapolis, Minnesota, 16 January 1909; The T.B. Walker Foundation (founded 1925), Minneapolis, (inv. no. WF4a,b); lent to the Walker Art Gallery, subsequently the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, (acc. no. 09.08, old inv. no. 198); lent from both of the above to the University Gallery, University of Minnesota, (inv. no. L1972.1.4a,b); with Sotheby's, New York, "Ancient Egyptian Sculpture and Works of Art," 15 December 2016, lot 63; sold to present collection, December 15, 2016.

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