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 Vase shape: skyphos
 Function: deep wine drinking cup
 Potter: Hieron
 Painter: Makron
 Date: 490-480 BC
 Height: 21cm

 both potter & painter have signed this vase
 they worked together on over 30 vases
 more than 600 vases have been attributed to
Makron (he rarely signed his work)
 Makron mostly decorated kylikes & skyphoi
 one of most important red figure cup artists
 main skill: drapery (how clothes actually
looked)
 loved to detail decoration (e.g. Priam's chair)

 All figures named with
painted purple slip (by
their heads)
 Hieron signed his name
under the handle of the
vase using incision

 Abduction of Helen – the events that lead to
the Trojan War

 The end of the Trojan War – Menelaos (king of
Sparta) is reclaiming Helen; Paris has been
killed & Troy taken.

- frieze bordered above
and below by regular
meander motif
- frieze is encircling but
depicts different scenes

 almost whole vase covered with overlapping
figures
 each figure distinguished by lines of their
drapery

 Helen & her two attendants stand in the same space
yet are still defined from one another (successful
overlapping and depth)
 Aeneas' shield overlaps his body (gives sense of
depth)
 Paris' spear overlaps his body (gives sense of depth)

 Direction
action moves from right to left (on both sides of the
vase)
 Groundline
single
 Continuous scene
goes the whole way around the vase (a boy is
under one handle, Priam under the other)
 Height of the figures
fill the height of the frieze

 Central trio - Paris, Helen & Aphrodite; framed either side
by support persons (Aeneas & Peitho); mirrors the trio on
Side B of Menelaos, Helen & Aphrodite
 Eros - his size and being in the air give a 3-D impression
 Comparison - between masculine figures who are moving
and the more static poses of the feminine group

 Trio of chief characters - Menelaos, Helen &
Aphrodite; two onlookers (Kriseus & Kriseis) on
the left
 Central trio - feminine figures (Kriseis, Aphrodite &
Helen); flanked by two masculine figures (Kriseus
& Menelaos)

 Helen - her position and pose mimics Paris on
side A

 armed with a spear
and shield
 he leads the party
and is looking back

 has the Greek name of Alexandros
 legs are wide apart suggesting he is
moving in urgency
 looking back over his shoulder in
case he is being chased
 leads Helen by the wrist showing
she is being seduced rather than
forced to leave
 wears a Corinthian helmet worn on
top of his head (not covering his
face as it would be in battle)
 shield has a lion on it (typical of
Makron's love of figured detail)
 sandals have been painted on with
dilute glaze

 son of Aphrodite
 used as a type of
symbol to indicate
the erotic nature of
the abduction
(Helen submitting
due to seduction,
not force)

 goddess of Love
 puts a cloak over
Helen's head to
disguise her

 name means
'persuasion'
 flowers in her hand
 watching the
abduction

 old man with
realistic white
beard

 maidservant to Helen
 ready to help

 flees towards
Aphrodite
 is in a frontal pose
wearing
transparent
drapery so that her
body is clearly
visible underneath

 King of Sparta
 fully armed
 draws his sword – about
to kill the unfaithful
Helen, however, upon
seeing her body he drops
this sword and forgives
her
 carries a shield with a
charging bull on it
 contrast of bearded
Menelaos with unbearded
and youthful Paris -
mirrors Aeneas on side A

 sits under the handle
 age emphasised by
partial baldness and
light coloured slip to
suggest greying hair

 red figure
 added colour: white beard on the old man on side
B
 dilute glaze: women's hair, sandals (worn by Paris
& his companion; shows technical detail), shield
(side A – lion on the shield is typical of Makron's
love of figured detail)
 variations of slip possible in red-figure – e.g. bull
on shield painted in full slip; lion on other shield
painted in dilute slip
 anatomy painted in slip underneath drapery
 dense overlapping of figures (new development in
creating convincing depth of space)

 eyes are still unrealistic (painted frontal even
though the head is in profile)
 women's robes – precise details; on the tunics –
lines are close together to indicate fine material
 slight swell in the drapery of the female figures to
suggest movement
 cloaks – thicker material indicated by lines further
apart; texture & 3-D effect created by dilute glaze
 robes – at the bottom, the folds of the material are
indicated by curved zig-zags (added naturalism by
not all the zig-zags being the same, like the Pioneer
group)

 Discuss FOUR narrative techniques used by the
painter to tell the story on this vase. Provide
examples to illustrate your answer.
 ‘Makron, the painter of this vase, is interested
in romantic/erotic scenes.’ What evidence is
there on the vase to justify this statement?

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6 Makron skyphos.ppt

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