Black-Figure Amphora (Storage Vessel) (Primary Title)
attributed to, Swing Painter (Artist)
The Swing Painter was a prolific and playful artisan. This scene of two mares and a stallion may record nothing more than horses at play, but it could be a metaphor for the struggle over Ionia (part of modern Turkey) between “manly” Greeks (the stallion) and “effeminate” Persians (a mare). The scene has also been interpreted as a parody of depictions of battles between Greeks and Amazons (an Amazonomachy) or of a fight over the body of a fallen warrior.
Encounter I: Space VMFA, Feb. – March 1974
The Greek Line, Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1 – 29 October 1962
[1] Information in VMFA Curatorial and Registration records.
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