Krater with Warriors Attributed to the Persephone

Crater of the Warriors attributed to the painter of the Persephone; Greek culture, Attica, Circa 450 BC.
Ceramic.
Thermoluminescence certificate attached.
Provenance: Belgian private collection, formed in the 1970s.
The piece is in a good state of preservation, repaired from its original fragments, with no faults or repainting.
Measurements: 36 cm high.
PUBLICATIONS: - Imagenes Praeteriti. J. Bagot Archaeology. Barcelona. 2016. Fig 20.
- Gate of the Gods. J. Bagot Archaeology. Barcelona. 2016. Fig 30.
- Lord of Truth. J. Bagot Archaeology. Barcelona. 2017. Fig 31.
Bell-shaped krater with a scene framed by a geometric border on the body of the vase and a wreath of laurel leaves on the bell. The main face is decorated with three warriors: the central one is naked, wearing a helmet, carrying a spear and shield, the one on the right is wearing a helmet, breastplate and carrying a spear, and the one on the left is wearing a clamid, sandals, a hat and holding two spears. On the back of the vase are three athletes in conversation, wearing himation. There are several pieces attributed to the Persephone painter that parallel this work, such as the Bell Crater with Helen and Menelaus at the Sack of Troy (440-430 BC). Toledo Museum of Art Toledo, Ohio, USA, the Chalice Crater with Odysseus pursuing Cyrene. Inventory Number: 41.83. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA and the Bell Crater with The Return of Persephone from Hades. Inventory number: 28.57.23. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

The Persephone Painter worked between 475 and 425 BC. He was given this pseudonym by Sir John Beazley after his research into red-figure craters for the identification of various artists. As in other cases, the name comes from the crater that helped to identify him as an artist, on which is depicted a mythological scene of Persephone's return from Hades, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
This painter is known for his close relationship with the Painter of Achilles, through whose workshop he became that of Persephone. Only a total of 26 works attributed to the Persephone Painter are known, including both large and small vases. This shows not only the importance of the work as an object, but also its rarity, as so few of the painter's works have survived.

The krater is a type of Greek pottery used to contain a mixture of water and wine, which was used to fill cups. It was carried to the place of the meal and placed on the floor or on a platform, and the cupbearer would administer the liquid with a spoon, filling the cups of the diners. Craters were mainly made of pottery but also of precious metals, and were modelled in different shapes according to the artist's taste, but always with a very wide mouth. The most common forms are the column, chalice, bell and scroll kraters.

Red-figure pottery was one of the most important figurative styles in Greek production. It was developed in Athens around 530 BC, and was used until the 3rd century BC. It replaced the previous predominant style of black-figured pottery within a few decades. The technical basis was the same in both cases, but in the red figures the colouring is inverted, with the figures highlighted against a dark background, as if illuminated by a theatrical light, following a more natural pattern. Painters working with black figures were forced to keep the motifs well separated from each other and to limit the complexity of the illustration. The red-figure technique, on the other hand, allowed greater freedom. Each figure was silhouetted against a black background, allowing painters to portray anatomical details with greater accuracy and variety. L