Ancient Mediterranean
Olpe (wine pitcher), 6th century BCE
Moore Painter
Greek, Corinthian
Ceramic: slip-painted earthenware
17" x 8 7/8"
Gift of Harlan E. Moore 1970-9-2
The potters in and around Corinth developed the art of decorating vessels with lively parades of animals in single file. The beasts are shown in profile but their heads turn toward the viewer, usually with an expression we think of as a charming archaic smile. These animals, in red and black on buff-colored clay, are imaginary or mythical beasts, and most of them, real or fanciful, are tokens of power. A banded oinochoe (wine jug) in this gallery is attributed to an unknown artist whose hand is recognizably distinct.
In honor of Harlan E. Moore, the donor of this remarkable collection of Greek vases, this artist has been named the Moore Painter.
Red figure hydria (water jar), 5th century BCE
Syracuse Painter Greek, Attic
Ceramic: slip-painted earthenware
h: 8 3/4"; diam.: 7"
Gift of Harlan E. Moore 1970-8-4
The scene painted on a hydria (water jar) in the collection is a story of forbidden treasure. Herakles (the Greek name for Hercules) successfully retrieves the golden apples from the Hesperides maidens, who kept them in a remote seaside garden guarded by a snakelike monster. We see the hero in the garden, wearing the reward of an earlier labor, the skin of the Nemean lion he had killed. This skin, being invulnerable, protects him. The striding, active hero in this vase painting carries his club made of the trunk of an olive tree.
Bearded head
Hellenistic (350-340 BCE) or Roman (c. 25 BCE-100CE)
Sculpture: marble
9 1/2" x 7 1/2"
Gift of Ellnora D. Krannert 1970-11-1
Head of a Bearded Man, worn by time and perhaps by long burial or reuse as rubble in the construction of a wall, remains a commanding portrait carved in the round. It shows us why Greek sculpture was copied by the Romans and adopted as the ideal by centuries of academic tradition in the West. Its facial type, mature and bearded, with thick wavy hair, resembles either Zeus, the ruler of the Olympic gods, or Asklepios, the healer who was able to help even Herakles when he was wounded.