Attic red-figure lidded pyxis
The centre of the lid is dominated by two cockerels facing each other in a fighting position. The main representation of the lid consists in a horserace scene: Three youths compete in the keles race riding their galloping horses depicted in a row moving right. In front of the first horse is shown a colonette resting on a stepped base, indicating the finishing post or the turning pole of the nyssa. The first rider is portrayed holding tight the reins in his left hand, accelerating the horse’s speed by cracking the whip held in his right hand on the animal’s hindquarters. A nude, crowned youth is shown standing next to the colonette, apparently making a signal to the contestants spreading his himation over his extended arms. Seven animals, lions and panthers, occupy the body of the pyxis in a combat position.
- Athens, National Archaeological Museum, inv. no. NAM Α 1594
- Circa 430 – 420 BC
- H. (with lid) 0.058 m. Rim diam. 0.125 m. Lid diam. 0.145 m. Diam. base 0.086 m.
- Provenance: Unknown. Acquired by the Archaeological Society at Athens in 1877 and then entered the Museum Collection.
Bibliography
- BAPD 2087
- Bruneau. P. (1965). Le motif des coqs affrontés dans l'imagerie antique, BCH-Bulletin de correspondance hellénique, Vol. 89-1, no. 47, pp. 99-100, fig. 8, 9. Ανακτήθηκε 12 Ιουλίου, 2022 από: https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1965_num_89_1_2252
- Collignon, M. & Couve, L. (1902). CC - Catalogue des vases peints du Musée National d’ Athènes, 1546, Paris.
- CVA Athens, National Archaeological Museum 8, 100-101, pl. 53.
- Καλτσάς, Ν. (Επιμ.). (2004). Αγών, Κατάλογος Έκθεσης, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο, 15 Ιουλίου-31 Οκτωβρίου 2004, στο Ρ. Προσκυνητοπούλου, 151, αρ. 51, Αθήνα: ΥΠΠΟΑ.
- Roberts, S. R. (1978). The Attic pyxis, 158, αρ. 1, πίν. 90, 2, Chicago: Ares Publishers.
- Τζάχου-Αλεξανδρή, Ο. (Επιμ.), (1989). Το πνεύμα και το σώμα. Οι αθλητικοί αγώνες στην Αρχαία Ελλάδα, σσ. 300-301, αρ. 189 (Ρ. Προσκυνητοπούλου), Αθήνα: Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού / Ελληνικό Τμήμα I.C.O.M.
