I attended the Penn Museum with the Classics Department, and this is my elaboration on some of the prompts given on a worksheet for students.
Greek vase depicting feminine figures:
One of the first objects I saw upon entering the Greek Vase room at the Penn Museum was an Attic black-figure amphora with decoration of mourning women. This is an amphora that was used as a grave offering, dedicated to a deceased person and buried with their body or at their tomb. This vase is one of the first to depict such an extreme of human emotion, the procession of female figures with their hands clasped above their heads (pulling their hair, according to the informational placard) in a clear expression of grief for the departed. The figures depicted are identified as women from the proportions of their body and the familial, grieving role that women tended to play.
Greek vase depicting a mythological figure:
I felt that I had to focus on an amphora featuring Athena to honor Bryn Mawr’s patron goddess, so I looked at the Attic red-figure Nolan amphora, attributed to the Providence Painter. This vase depicts a godly scene, with Athena standing over a young man as she hands him a spear, her head slightly bowed. She is holding her characteristic aegis (shield) and helmet, marking her undoubtedly as the goddess. The male figure is assumed to be Theseus receiving guidance from the deity. I found it interesting that this vase had no decoration on the handles or the neck – the entire thing focused on the scene on the body of the amphora. There are no other background elements to the scene either, so the whole side of the vase features only the two figures in their exchange. The youth is also already holding two spears, so the spear handed to him by Athena seems to be one of a more metaphorical sense. It is interesting, also, that the obverse side of this amphora features only one figure, more lonely than the two on the front. He is a lone king standing with nothing but the cloth on his back and a single scepter.
[in Roman gallery] Object that depicts a human figure:
Claudia Octavia marble statue found in Cyprus at the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates. This depiction of the emperor’s wife stood out to me not because it was an idealized likeness, as that was standard for the time, but because the information placard revealed another image of Claudia Octavia made even more idealized. In a statue found at Olympia, she seems to be wearing a version of Hera’s own diadem. This is clearly an exaggeration of her power, but it indicates the high pedestal that the imperial family occupied at the time. The statue from Cyprus appears to also be wearing a headpiece, but perhaps not the specific design that would deem it a diadem of Hera. While looking at this statue, I also was struck by the blankness of her eyes. I know they would have had vibrant coloring in their time, but I would love to be able to see that reconstructed on this specific statue as, being a somewhat plain piece, her eyes stand out from her other features.
Object from another gallery:
The entrance of the Egyptian wing of the Penn Museum is flanked by two glass display cases, one featuring some painted wooden funerary stelae that drew my eye. They are reminiscent of funerary stelae that could be found at the Kerameikos in Athens in that they are scenes dedicated to a deceased person, but they also have some interesting differences. These are wooden, for one, and they contain images of deities instead of the lives of the deceased, as Greek funerary stelae tend to depict. Unfortunately I was not able to find articles comparing the two cultures in this aspect, but the difference between these two funerary dedications is intriguing – the cultural practices seem to be either continuing to appease and honor the gods even past death, or commemorating and glorifying the deceased.
