Black-Figure Amphora (Storage Vessel) (Primary Title)
attributed to, Swing Painter (Artist)
The Swing Painter was a prolific and playful artist. This scene of three horses, two mares and one stallion, may record nothing more than horses at play, but it could also be a metaphor for the contemporary struggle over Ionia (part of modern Turkey) between "manly" Greeks and "effeminate" Persians. It could also be a parody of either a battle 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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