Panathenaic Prize Amphora
Nikomachos Series (Attic black-figure workshop) (active late 4th century BC) · 321-320 BC (archonship of Archippos)
A tall amphora with a narrow neck and a broad body, painted in the old black-figure technique long after Athenian potters had abandoned it for everything else. On one side Athena strides between two columns, helmet crest streaming, shield raised, a Gorgon's head on her breast, her flesh once picked out in white. Little figures of Nike stand on the columns. Along the left column runs an inscription naming the archon Archippos, the magistrate of the year, so we know the vase was made in 321 or 320 BC. On the other side a naked discus thrower swings his disc between a bearded judge holding a palm branch and another athlete. Notice the flaking on the Athena side and the darkened patch at the mouth, where the kiln fire scorched the clay.
These amphorae were the prizes of the Panathenaic games in Athens, each filled with olive oil from the sacred groves of Athena; a winner might take home dozens of them. Their archaic style was deliberately old fashioned, a tradition kept for two centuries. This one was found far from Athens at Benghazi in Libya, the ancient Berenike, and the Louvre bought it in 1851.
Did You Know? The archon's name painted beside the column dates the vase to the year, 321 to 320 BC, like a date stamp.
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