Attic Kylix of the Phrynos Painter
Photogallery
Attic Kylix of the Phrynos Painter
The kylix, which was a goblet used during symposia for drinking wine, bears the painted inscription “hail and drink” on the exterior. Inside there is a small medallion with an epic illustration painted in an effective miniaturist style, with the personages identified by inscriptions. Ajax, in the archaic attitude of the “kneeling race”, with helmet, jambeaux and breastplate from which his chitoniskos emerges, carries the lifeless body of Achilles, denuded and with his long mane of hair falling loose to the ground. The figures, with finely engraved details, are enlivened with areas in crimson (Ajax’s helmet, jambeaux and chitoniskos, and Achilles’ hair and trunk). The peculiarity of the miniature style has led to the ceramists who specialised in this type of production to be referred to as the “Small Masters”. Among these, the Phrynos Painter, to whom the Vatican kylix has been attributed, emerges for his originality and executive skill as one of its most eminent representatives.