In 2006, following the trial of Giacomo Medici and related disclosures about antiquities smuggling, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Italian government signed an agreement under which ownership of the Euphronios Krater and several other pieces of art was returned to Italy in exchange for long-term loans of other comparable objects owned by Italy.
The two scenes invite comparison between the narratives they depict certainly, the hero Sarpedon was no less youthful than these anonymous boys, and Death and Sleep may well come for them as they did for him.
Both scenes are painted with similar styles, making the historical scene appear more contemporary likewise, the contemporary scene begins to share some of the other's mythological qualities. The young men are not heroes of legend with their finely detailed features, they are given personality and character, but they could be any of the youthful soldiers in the Greek army. The other scene, of the anonymous youths preparing for war, is both more general and explicitly contemporary. The death of Sarpedon, a quasi-mythological story which would be familiar to anyone viewing the krater, is an episode involving specific historical and mythological figures. The scene of the anonymous Greek youths on the reverse shares this naturalistic style, using all the Pioneer Group's characteristic techniques of anatomical accuracy, natural poses, foreshortening, and spatial illusion.Īlso characteristic of the Pioneer Group is the narrative tension created both by pairing these two scenes on the same piece, and by painting them in a common style. This style is emblematic of the Pioneer Group of late Archaic painters, of whom Euphronios is considered the most accomplished. While the subject of Sarpedon's death might normally be depicted as a stylized tableau, the figures in this scene are painted in naturalistic poses and with schematic but accurate anatomy. In the scene of Sarpedon's death, the god Hermes directs the personifications of Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos) to carry the fallen away to his homeland for burial. The reverse of the krater shows a contemporary scene of Athenian youths from the sixth century BC arming themselves before battle. An episode from the Trojan War is shown on the obverse this illustration depicts the death of Sarpedon, son of Zeus and Laodamia.
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