Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2007)
ANDRÁS MÁRTON AND GYÖRGY NEMES: Corinthian White-Ground Lekythoi
CORINTHIAN WHITE-GROUND LEKYTHOI ANDRÁS MARTON AND GYÖRGY NEMES The Collection of Classical Antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts houses three lekythoi made most probably in Corinth. 1 1. WHITE-GROUND LEKYTHOS (FIGS. 1~4) 2 High disk foot, concave on the sides; cylindrical body tapering downwards with an entasis. Deep mouth with straight side ending in an outward-curving rim. A strap handle from shoulder to neck folds back under rim of mouth. Matt black glaze covers the outside of the mouth, the outside of the handle, and the upper part of the foot. There is a horizontal line in black in the inside of the mouth under the rim. The neck is decorated with a row of triangular "funnels" in black. This decoration is unique among white lekythoi. The rest of the neck, shoulder, body, and the inner side of the handle are covered with worn and sometimes discoloured white paint. White paint covering body and shoulder up to the neck is typical of Corinthian manufacture. 3 Palmettes can still be seen on the shoulder which were probably made up of alternating black and red leaves (fig. 3). On the body, the remains of a figurai scene: a helmeted figure facing right holding his shield shoulder-high. Details of a handle (porpax) and part of a lower arm can be seen on the inside of the shield (fig. 4). There is an arched line and a rosette in front of the figure, and a greyish-blue ribbon on the upper part of the body under the shoulder (figs. 1-2). In establishing the subject of the figurai scene, it is best to take the warrior-figure as a starting point. Apart from battle scenes, helmeted figures with shield a lso occur i n the iconography of farewell and tomb scenes, 4 although the shield horizontally held is known on white-ground lekythoi only from battle scenes.' The arched line in front of the figure can be identified as another shield raised in defence. Behind it, we can reconstruct a warrior facing left and sunk down on one knee.
