Radocsay Dénes - Gerevich Lászlóné szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 31. (Budapest,1968)

BOTHMER, DIETRICH von: An Amphora'by Exekias

13/b Amphora by Exekias, reverse. Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts Dionysos is usually taken to be Ariadne, and the lesser members of the entourage are mostly satyrs. In the Budapest panel Exekias has broken with the stereotyped compositions of Group E, and though fragmentary, we catch a glimpse of a Dionysiac scene fully the equal of the treatment of the subject by the Amasis Painter. It is still fashionable to use the meagre evidence of the relatively few vases that have survived in order to impute to various painters a predilection for this or that subject. It used to be said of the Amasis Painter that he preferred dogs to horses, and of Exekias that he favoured Apollo over Dionysos. The statistical foundations for these conclusions, however, are in constant need of adjustment: an amphora by the Amasis Painter, newly acquired by Munich,

28 a cup in a private collection in New York,

29 and an unpublished aryballos in the Metropolitan Museum

30 are but three important newcomers that feature horses. By the same token, the newly recognized amphora by Exekias in Budapest gives Dionysos a clear plurality over Apollo in the works so far known. But, in any case, the mere nose-count is no criterion : instead, let us enjoy each new vase that becomes known as bringing us an inch or two closer to a more complete knowledge of a painter and his works. DIETRICH VON BOTHMER (New York) 28 Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 16 (1965) p. 232, fig. 5. 29 H o f f m a n n, H. : The Beauty of Ancient Art (Norbert Schimmel Collection, Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University. Mainz, 1964) no. 24. 30 62.1 1.1 1 : described by S c h a u c n b u r g in Jdl ( 1964) p. 112, note 8.