Volute Mixing Bowl (volute Krater) with a Man in Shrine (Naisos) and Figures at a Grave Site
| Attributed To | The Underworld Painter |
|---|---|
| Culture | Greek |
| Title | Volute Mixing Bowl (volute Krater) with a Man in Shrine (Naisos) and Figures at a Grave Site |
| Date | 330–300 BCE |
| Medium | Clay |
| Dimensions | Overall: 29 9/16 in. (75.1 cm) |
| Credit Line | Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 79.45 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
Two handles of this large vessel rise from the shoulders and spiral inward to connect to the rim. The tall neck is decorated with elaborate floral vines and women's heads. In the center of the bowl's oval-shaped body, a young man is seated in a small, gazebo-like building with two other figures standing one on either side, outside the gazebo.
The red-figure technique migrated to southern Italy along with Greek colonists. Red-figure pottery made in this region during the fourth and third centuries BCE, however, had developed its own distinctive approach. It is characterized by ornate floral forms, female heads as decorative elements, and the extensive use of added color—all of which appear on this krater. Moreover, in this region these large mixing bowls came to be used as funerary monuments, and the scenes on this krater support this function. One side of the vessel illustrates a female and a male mourner bringing commemorative gifts to a stele (gravestone) decorated with black and white ribbons. The other side shows a deceased young man, seated within a shrine in the underworld. He is flanked by attendants; on one side a woman brings an open box and, on the other, a male attendant holds an offering dish.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Volute Mixing Bowl (volute Krater) with a Man in Shrine (Naisos) and Figures at a Grave Site | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=79.45