The Dipylon Amphora (also known as Athens 804) is a large Ancient Greek painted vase, made around 750 BC, and is now held by the

National Archaeological Museum, Athens The National Archaeological Museum ( el, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is ...

. Discovered at the Dipylon cemetery, this stylistic vessel belonging to the

Geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

period is credited to an unknown artist: the Dipylon Master. The amphora is covered entirely in ornamental and

geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

patterns, as well as human figures and animal-filled motifs. It is also structurally precise, being that it is as tall as it is wide. These decorations use up every inch of space, and are painted on using the black-figure technique to create the silhouetted shapes. Inspiration for the Greek vase derived not only from its intended purpose as a

funerary A funeral is a ceremony connected with the Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture ...

vessel, but also from artistic remnants of Mycenaean civilization prior to its collapse around 1100 BC. The Dipylon Amphora signifies the passing of an aristocratic woman, who is illustrated along with the

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

of her funeral consisting of mourning family and friends situated along the belly of the vase. The woman's nobility and status is further emphasized by the plethora of detail and characterized animals, all which remain in bands circling the neck and belly of the amphora. Dipylon amphora detail

Discovery

The Dipylon Amphora was found intact on an aristocratic gravesite at the Dipylon cemetery, near the

Dipylon Gate The Dipylon ( gr, Δίπυλον, "Two-Gated") was the main gate in the city wall of Classical Athens. Located in the modern suburb of Kerameikos, it led to the namesake ancient cemetery, and to the roads connecting Athens with the rest of Greece. ...

, in

Kerameikos Kerameikos (, ) also known by its Latinized form Ceramicus, is an area of Athens, Greece, located to the northwest of the Acropolis, which includes an extensive area both within and outside the ancient city walls, on both sides of the Dipylon Ga ...

, the ancient potters' quarter on the northwest side of the ancient city of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. The cemetery is referred to as such, for that it was located near the

Dipylon The Dipylon ( gr, Δίπυλον, "Two-Gated") was the main gate in the city wall of Classical Athens. Located in the modern suburb of Kerameikos, it led to the namesake ancient cemetery, and to the roads connecting Athens with the rest of Greece. ...

, or "double gate", which was also the city gate.

Attribution

It is one of around 50 examples amongst the Dipylon gravesites attributed to an unknown artist given the

notname In art history, a ''Notname'' (, "necessity-name" or "contingency-name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled, or generically title ...

of "the

Dipylon Master The Dipylon Master was an ancient Greek vase painter who was active from around 760–750 BC. He worked in Athens, where he and his workshop produced large funerary vessels for those interred in the Dipylon Gate cemetery, whence his name comes. ...

". Also known as the Dipylon Painter, the Dipylon Master is one of the earliest individually identifiable Greek artists, who specialized in not just large funerary vases, but pitchers, high rimmed bowls,

tankard A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic, or leather. A tankard ...

s, as well as giant and standard sized

oinochoai An oenochoe, also spelled oinochoe ( grc, οἰνοχόη; from grc, οἶνος ''oînos'', "wine" and grc, χέω ''khéō'', "I pour," sense "wine-pourer"; plural ''oinochoai''; New Latin ''oenochoë,'' plural ''oenochoae,'' English plura ...

. This artist was therefore named for their supposed work on many stylized pieces found within these graves that have been ascribed to the same creator and workshop by multiple historians. The main characteristics of the Dipylon Painter's works include characteristic human figures where geometric shapes are utilized including triangular torsos that narrow at the waist, concave-outlined chests, prominent chins, and wasp-like legs that are thinner towards the feet. These figures are silhouetted, as well as the animal motifs, and are all deliberately placed as to not overlap one another, emphasizing the theme of pattern by the painter.

Description

The amphora was made on a

potter's wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...

in three sections that were joined to form a single large vessel, standing at over five feet tall (1.55m).The artist's construction was intended to fit the specific proportions of having the same height and width, and possessing a neck that's half of the body's length. The base has a hole to allow

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today. Various substa ...

s to be poured for the dead, and it has small handles on the shoulders of the ovoid body. The supposed purpose for the shape of the Dipylon Amphora potentially stems from the artist's usage of the

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

for the decorated registers on the piece. A specialist of ancient ceramics, Dr. Thomas Mannack, indicates that the style of the

period derived certain aspects of the

Protogeometric The Protogeometric style (or "Proto-Geometric") is a style of Ancient Greek pottery led by Athens produced between roughly 1030 and 900 BCE, in the first period of the Greek Dark Ages. After the collapse of the Mycenaean-Minoan Palace culture ...

and intertwined new features, hence the separated bands on the neck and body of the pottery. The geometric patterns are what define the style, with an array of shapes within and around the

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

s: including battlements,

concentric circles In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric, coaxal, or coaxial when they share the same center or axis. Circles, regular polygons and regular polyhedra, and spheres may be concentric to one another (sharing the same center point ...

meanders A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank w ...

, and key patterns. The entirety of the vase, excluding the main frieze, is ornamented with precisely balanced patterns utilizing light and dark

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...

s; these decorative forms including meanders have been proposed by multiple scholars to be the invention of the very Dipylon Master. The belly of the vase between the handles is not only the widest section, but structurally the most delicate since the clay is the thinnest in width at that point, further dictating that the frieze within that format is the most important visual aspect of the scene. A rectangular panel between the handles on one side depicts a prothesis scene, the

lying in repose Lying in repose is the tradition in which the body of a deceased person, often of high social stature, is made available for public viewing. Lying in repose differs from the more formal honor of lying in state, which is generally held at the pr ...

of a draped dead woman on a

bier A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., New York, ...

, with a checkered shroud above the body, and stylized

mourner A mourner is someone who is attending a funeral or who is otherwise recognized as in a period of grief and mourning prescribed either by religious law or by popular custom. Many cultures expect mourners to curtail certain activities, usually tho ...

s to either side. There are thirty-nine human figures total- both men and women- on the handle zone of the piece. Placed underneath each handle are six figures, with eight more on the backside panel, and a large group of nineteen people depicted on the frontal frieze. The tall cylindrical neck, includes bands of repeated stylized deer and goats. The goats in particular, are shown with their legs tucked underneath and heads turning back upon themselves, almost as if to simulate the meanders throughout the amphora.

Historical Context

The Ancient Greeks had a plethora of inspiration from the surrounding regions' cultures, but the shift of political and social power presumably impacted the intake of artistic reference towards the Geometric style. Concerning the collapse of the Mycenaean culture, contact became closed off from highly developed surrounding Eastern empires that the Greeks referred to for artistry and innovation. As a result, it is assumed that many artists were compelled to return to Greek-rooted forms of art.

Basketry Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

and

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

were just some of the crafts possibly utilized for depicting visual motifs within Geometric vase painting. These types of crafts were first thought to be integrated by the Dipylon Master within the Geometric style, and would also elucidate why their works are amidst of some of the firs
figural scenes
discerned on Greek vessels since the fall of the Mycenaean civilization.

Funerary Rituals

The Dipylon amphora illustrates the funerary practices of Athen's wealthy population, which is proven by its location at the aristocratic cemetery. These kraters and amphorae were positioned upright over the graves as markers and possibly functioned as

chutes, as postulated by R.M. Cook. Alternatively, Jeffery M. Hurwit suggests that the vase not only received offerings, but served mainly as a commemorative piece; it symbolized the noblewoman's memorial monument and signified her tomb. Athenians in previous centuries would

cremate Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

the dead and place their ashes in the properly designated vessels. However, this shifted when

inhumations Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

resurfaced in Greek religious practice and culture; and as a result the remains were placed underneath the amphorae and kraters, which is signified by the findings near and under the Dipylon Amphora.

Subject

This funerary monument's size emphasizes the seemingly elite status of the deceased who is also presumed to be a woman, due to the vases commonly indicating the gender:

krater A krater or crater ( grc-gre, , ''kratēr'', literally "mixing vessel") was a large two-handled shape of vase in Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, krat ...

s for men and

amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

e for women. There is further evidence in the graves at the Dipylon cemetery containing items of wealthy women that indicated their status; these artifacts were discovered by amongst and within the large-belly handled amphorae. Painted

e of this size were made as grave markers. It is presumed that the vase was solely created for the dead woman depicted on the frieze. In the frieze, the woman's body is shown lying on a

; depicted on top of the her is a checkered

shroud Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to ''burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous Shr ...

that covers her entirely from the top of her head to her feet. Interestingly, the

pall Pall may refer to: * Pall (funeral), a cloth used to cover a coffin * Pall (heraldry), a Y-shaped heraldic charge * Pall (liturgy), a piece of stiffened linen used to cover the chalice at the Eucharist * Pall Corporation, a global business * Pall. ...

curves around the deceased to provide clarity for the audience of the piece so they can recognize the dedication of this individual. The nearby figures surrounding the noblewoman are likely grieving friends and family; all of the members of the funeral are shown displaying a symbolic gesture of intense grief in which the hands are elevated towards the head. File:Dipylon amphora close front (Prothesis).jpg, Detail of the prothesis scene File:Dipylon amphora detail (cropped).jpg, Detail of bottom of the neck, with the band of goats

References

{{commons category, Dipylon Amphora, NAMA 804
Dipylon vases
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University
The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100-480 B.C.
Jeffrey M. Hurwit, p. 96-104
The Dipylon Amphora: Its Role in the Development of Greek Art
Barbara E. Bohen, p. 59-65
Nuptial Vases in Female Tombs? Aspects of Funerary Behavior during the Late Geometric Period in Attica
Vicky Vlachou, ch.13 * Greek Decorated Pottery I: Athenian Vase Painting Thomas Mannack, p. 39-61
Greek Painted Pottery
R. M. Cook, p. 15-22

External links

Dipylon amphora
smarthistory.org Amphorae National Archaeological Museum, Athens 8th-century BC works Iron Age Greek art