Black-Figure Amphora (Type B; Storage Vessel): Battling Warriors (A); Dionysos and Satyrs (B)

c. 530–520 BC

Black-Figure Amphora (Type B; Storage Vessel): Battling Warriors (A); Dionysos and Satyrs (B), c. 530–520 BC. Attributed to The Bateman Group, manner of Lysippides Painter (Greek, Attic, active c. 530–515 BC). Ceramic; overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The A. W. Ellenberger, Sr., Endowment Fund 1927.433 Formerly owned by John Bateman, Esq., this amphora provided a name for the Bateman Group, five amphorae likely decorated by a single painter. On either side, a reserved panel holds a carefully composed scene: four striding soldiers above a fallen warrior; and four dancing satyrs around the wine god Dionysos. Similar scenes appear on other Bateman Group vases, as well as in the much larger body of work attributed to the more well-known Lysippides Painter. This vase was already old-fashioned when first made; its shape was preferred by earlier generations of vase painters.