"THE SPRINTERS" Archaic Period Greek Amphorae c.530-520 BC. by Jack Nixon
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By: Jack Nixon
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Width: 12 in.
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Height: 24 in.
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Depth: 0 in.
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Medium: Mixed Media Drawing
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Material: Paper
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Style: Classicism
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Theme: Archeological
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Price: US $1000
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About This Artwork
"THE SPRINTERS" Black-Figured Ancient Amphorae
Original Pencil and Pastel Drawing: $1000.00, Framed $1500.00
Greek, Attic; Archaic Period, c. 530-520 B.C.; Height 25 inches; Terracotta;
Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter; Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
All major ancient Greek festivals were dedicated to the gods. The Panathenaia, a quadrennial state religious festival, honored Athena, the patron goddess of Athens. The festival included athletics, music and other competitions. Gifts of honor were given as prizes which included horses, cattle, grey iron, gold, laurel wreaths, amphorae filled with precious commodities, and sometimes even women. Prizes and competitions went hand in hand for the Greeks, and honor for the givers was as valued as for those who won the events. In fact, the word athletics is derived from agon, athla, or athlos (material prizes, or symbolic worth) and athlothetai (prize-givers).
Large amphorae, filled with olive oil (about ten gallons) pressed from sacred groves of trees were specially prized. Of these two different examples, one side shows Athena, the goddess of war, the other the event for which the vase was won. Leading vase painters, commissioned by the state, decorated these vessels, which continued to be decorated in the black-figured technique long after it had gone out of fashion for other vases; probably due to religious conservatism. The same conservatism is applied to the depiction of "The Spinters" above.
Foot races, the ealiest competitions of the Olympic games, were undertaken over varying distances of 200, 400 and 1,400 - 3,800 meters. Notice the wealth of incised lines depicting musculature, a preoccupation of Greek artists for centuries to come.
To this date, "The Sprinters" is unpublished. Email the artist at jacknds@cs.com for size and pricing on Giclee prints.