Red-Figured Volute Krater (Primary Title)
Unidentified (Maker)
This vase arrived to the museum broken into hundreds of pieces, after a tumultuous journey that took it from auction houses and private homes in the 1980s, to the storerooms of an insurance company, and finally, the home of a Richmond good Samaritan who donated it—with the Italian government’s permission—to VMFA. The museum’s conservators spent more than four hundred hours reassembling this vessel, which features a unique and puzzling depiction of the winged horse Pegasus in a naiskos (a temple-like tomb).
Volute kraters are a common vase shape in Apulia, named for the elaborate scrolls on their handles (here decorated with female faces). Kraters are usually containers for mixing wine with water at celebrations called symposia, although vessels of this size often served only as grave offerings.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
