Fragment of the Medici Vase
Greece, 1st century BC
1st century BC
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In 1913 the archaeologist Friedrich Hauser demonstrated that the fragment in the Princely Collections matches a male figure belonging to the relief decoration of the famous Medici Vase made in the mid-first century BCE that was transferred to Florence in 1740 and is today held in the Uffizi. The identification of the subject is still as uncertain as that of the entire relief frieze. While Hauser put forward the hypothesis that the main scene depicts Agamemnon consulting the Oracle at Delphi (Homer, “Odyssey”, 8:79–81), more recent scholarship assumes that it represents the half-naked prophetess Cassandra after her violation by Locrian Ajax, around whom the Greek military leaders have gathered (Pausanias 1.15.2). Carved from Pentelic marble, the fragment was acquired at auction in 1891 by Prince Johann II von Liechtenstein from the collection of Julien Gréau. At that time it was mounted in a kind of frame, as shown in a contemporary photograph. The tip of the nose is a later restoration.
- Material/technique
- marble, pentelic
- Measurements
- 26.0 × 25.0 × 8.0 cm
- Acquisition
- acquired in 1891 by Prince Johann II von Liechtenstein
- Artists/makers/authors
- Greece, 1st century BC
- Inventory number
- SK 58
- Provenance
- before 1878 Collection Frédérich Mylius, Genoa; 5 Nov. 1879 and following days Auction of the Mylius Collection in the Villa Mylius, Rome (No. 650), Collection Julien Gréau, Paris; 11-16 May 1891 Auction of the Gréau Collection in the Hôtel Drouot, Paris (No. 1290); acquired in 1878 by Prince Johann II von Liechtenstein
- Place of origin
- Greece
- Iconography
- Minerva
Auktions-Kat. Catalogue d'objets d'art et de curiosité, formant la galerie de Mr. Mylius de Gènes : tableaux et sculptures anciens et modernes, porcelaines europèenes, de la Chine et du Japon, verreries, meubles et objets d'ameublement, bronzes des XV, XVI et XVII siècles, objets d'orfèvrerie et bijoux des XVI, XVII et XVIII siècles, vases, tables, pavage, fûts de cononnes en porphyre, granit rose et gris, jaspe et autres maitières antiques, collection d'ebentails, beau plat de fayence italienne, miniatures, émail de Pénicaud, étoffes et guipures : livres anciens et modernes ..., Villa Mylius, Rom 5.11.1879, Rom 1879, S. 93, Kat.-Nr. 654
Friedrich Hauser, Ein neues Fragment des Mediceischen Kraters, in: Jahreshefte des österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes, Band 16 1913, S. 33–57