Amphora Vase

Late 4th century

Silver, gilding

Amphora-shaped vase on a low stem with flat bottom and narrow, cylindrical neck. The cast handles shaped like centaurs bearing amphoras on their shoulders were soldered on later. The body of the vase is decorated with three friezes in relief that are separated by ornamental belts. The upper frieze reproduces scenes of a wild boar and deer hunt. The central frieze is devoted to a battle between Greek warriors and Amazons. The lower frieze presents Nereids at sea on Hippocampus. The body was hammered into shape and then soldered onto a solid cast base. All the friezes are notable for high artistic mastery and the continuation of Antique traditions. The stylistic peculiarities of the ornament, the use in the decoration of scenes from Greek mythology and the technique of execution all allow us to consider the vase to be a late piece of Greco-Roman pictorial art work from the Eastern Mediterranean which, however, shows the first signs of Byzantine artistic influence.