n - Historia Antigua

40 THE ATTIC PYxlS SAllY RUTHEllfURD RO.EIlTS 41
pyxis move this ~3)'. their arms akimbo. A lock of hair hangs down
in front of the Acropolis maenad's ear: the same mal' be noted on
the maenad 10 the left of Hcrmcs on the pyJlis.
On Princeton 16.1 by the Painler of Oxford 237 (side A. PI. 10.1)
the left most macnad moves similarly ~'ilh het hands (3 while blob)
clasped together in fronl of her body. Her shawl ends in s.....allowtails.
There are while dots on the drapery o\'er the shoulders and in
a vertical row down the center of the garment. A (ress falls down in
front of her ear. The rightmosl maenad's hands arc depicted as
v. hile blobs onc beSide the other in exactly the same way as on the
pyxis Alhcm 12149. The birds used as a design element on the lid
are unparalleled in the work of the Leafless Group. The figure
slyle. howel-er. certainly is near the Painter of OJlford 237 and
perhaps this is his own work,
The prufilc of the body of Athens 14908 (no. q. PI. 18.0 presents
the simple concave curve of the Oxford patterned pyxis and the
black.figure Athens 627 (no. 5). The tall convex tripartite fool is
unparalleled. The lid is missing and the exceptional contour of the
foot is a strong admonition not to hazard a guess as to the profile
of the lid. Beazley writes thus concerning the style. "The following.
though unusual in the proportions of the figures and in some other
respects. is close to the Wedding Painter and may be from hi~ Oil. n
hand."
Similarities to the style of the Wedding Painter are not difficult
to find. Compare the set of the head and the long wavy t~ses
falling along Paris' shoukler and upper arm with the seated youth
depicted in the tondo of the Berkeley CUp.45 The reserved line along
the contour 01 the head widening along the upper arm to halo the
wa\'y locks is similar in each. The shorthand depiction of toes seen
frum the frol1l as a series of curving lines is identically represented
for the figure of Paris and that of the woman on the right in the
tondo of the cup in Compiegne,46 Dilule chilon fold lines end in
hea\'ier dots as may be seen on the woman putting the final touches
10 the arrangemcnt of Thetis' garment on the name pieee of the
Wedding Painter. the pyxis in the Louvre. 4J The unusual
proportions mentioned by Benley may be nOled in the curious
enthroned fi~ure of Aphrodite.
The Wedding Painter is counted a member of the Penthesilea
Workshop. howe\'er Ihe shape of this pyxis is nOI of the canonical
Penthesilean type. By profile and b)' the very oddity of ils foot it
seem!> to belong 10 the experimental period of 480-470 B.e. The
style seems to ha\'c a slightly earlier flavor especially pronounced in
the figure of Aphrodite and indeed Rhomaios and S. Papaspyridi
(Karousou) dated the vase 10 that decade,4'
Pyx;de.~ decorated by the Pistoxenm Painter. Brussels. Biblio·
theque Ro)ale 9 and soon after Oxford 1%5.130 (no. 7. PI. 18.3).
v,hich mal' be by the artist. were made before the canonical type uf
the P"nlhesilca Wor,,"shop ""as introduced, The same is the case for
Athens 14Q08. The Pistoxenos Painter's female ~ and
compositions seem to have provided models followed in the
decoralion of pyxides by certain members of the Penthcsllea
workshop.4t