Byvanck, l’Antiquité Classique 1948, 94-B.1.Recent research into the military history of ancient Greece has questioned the central rôle traditionally ascribed to the famous hoplite phalanx by historians and suggested that even as late as the Persian Wars of 480–479 BC, Greek battles consisted essentially of open fighting and duels between individual combatants, in an almost Homeric fashion. Musée Imperial Ottoman, Monuments Funéraires: Catalogue Sommaire, no. 31 (defective coloured drawing of middle of headpiece) and fig. He is definitely later than the Petrie group and earlier than the Albertinum group, and this sarcophagus should therefore probably be dated early in the last quarter of the sixth century. His argument that the poses and forms of the soldiers show that this sarcophagus is earlier than the Siphnian Treasury seems to me mistaken: the Borelli painter is a mannerist, in his black figure as well as in his Wild Goat Style, and so is likely to look old-fashioned. Johansen compared the Northampton group and the east frieze of the Siphnian Treasury, but the similarities are rather the general similarities that are to be expected in works of more or less the same time and same general Attic or Atticizing tradition. GB 584, 3 and 585, 1-2), though he is evidently later. He has a marked kinship with the Petrie group of Clazomenian black figure pottery (cf. The painter of this sarcophagus - the Borelli painter - is in his black figure style the most distinctly East Greek of the painters of Clazomenian sarcophagi. Outside East Greek art aprons appear irregularly in Attic about the end of the sixth century: since at that time Attic artists would hardly have borrowed from East Greek, it is likely that the shield apron had just been introduced in the Athenian army. On the Clazomenian sarcophagi shield-aprons are frequent: the Borelli and Hanover painters give them to all their hoplites, in the Albertinum group their use is optional (e.g. 47-48): the date, early in the last quarter of the sixth century, is about the same as that of this sarcophagus. In Fikellura there is only one example of a shield and it has an apron (BSA xxxiv, pi. GB 106, 5 and BSA xlvii, 139-F.19): other more or less contemporary Clazomenian and other East Greek black figure shields are without aprons (e.g. So far as is known, it does not occur in the Chiot Chalice style but makes its first appearance on a Clazomenian black figure sherd of about 540 B.C. The shield-apron, presumably for protection against arrows, seems to have been a late addition to the equipment of the Greek hoplite the evidence suggests that it was an East Greek innovation of the middle of the sixth century. For the divided chiton compare perhaps Pl. GB 584, 3 () on the Gorgoneion the text to Pl. On the helmet with the projection on the forehead see the text to Pl. Some of the white lines which define overlapping figures and objects are unusually thick: the painter was possibly not so much careless as inexperienced in adapting the black figure style and technique to the decoration of sarcophagi. Johansen has given a commentary on this sarcophagus (Acta Arch xiii, 32-41), but a few other points are perhaps worth noting. (This fragment joins Istanbul 1427, which gives most of the rest of the face and measures 2.07 x 1.20/1.12 m.: the description that follows is of the complete face.) Here purple is used for crests, shield-apron, greave of hoplites mane and saddlecloth of horse and as a triangular patch on its neck and as an oval patch above the shoulder of the dog. On the black figure parts - that is headpiece, upper corner strips, upper panels - there is much use of white and purple, but details can only be given for the British Museum fragment. Edges: outside, egg and dart (the eggs squarish and in alternate pairs void) inside, meander. Lower panel, goat: above and below, band of dots. Upper panel, youth standing beside horse: chequers: dividing bands of dots. Upper corner strip, animals - left, lion (?) and panther right, - and deer (?). Headpiece, hoplites fighting two against two, behind each pair youth riding horse with a dog below, in the extra space at the right end a youth standing: on the facing shields a Gorgoneion and the forepart of a lion between the pairs of hoplites a bird: above and below and probably at sides the field is framed by a dark band. Fragment of Clazomenian painted terracotta sarcophagus.
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