Obverse, young man singing and playing the kithara
Reverse, judge

This work is a masterpiece of Greek vase-painting because it brings together many features of Athenian culture in an artistic expression of the highest quality. The shape itself is central to the effect. Through the symmetry, scale, and luminously glossy glaze on the obverse, it offers a carefully composed three-dimensional surface that endows the subject with volume. The identity of the singer is given by his instrument, the kithara, which was a type of lyre used in public performances, including recitations of epic poetry. The figure on the reverse is identified by his garb and wand. While the situation is probably a competition, the subject is the music itself. It transports the performer, determines his pose, and causes the cloth below the instrument to sway gently.

Said to be from Nola (Beazley 1963, p. 197, no. 3).

May 22-23, 1919, purchased by W.R. Hearst from Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, London; from 1919, collection of William Randolph Hearst, New York; acquired November 26, 1956, purchased from the Hearst Corporation.

Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London. Sale cat., May 22-23, 1919, p. 33, no. 270, pl. XI.

Beazley, J. D. 1922. "Citharoedus." Journal of Hellenic Studies 42: 70ff., figs. 1, 2, pl. II.

Beazley, J. D. 1930. Der Berliner Maler. Part 2 of Bilder griechischer Vasen, edited by J. D. Beazley and P. Jacobsthal. Berlin-Wilmersdorf: H. Keller, pl. 21.

von Bothmer, Dietrich. 1957. "Greek Vases from the Hearst Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 15(7): pp. 166, 176, Bulletin Cover.

Beazley, J. D. 1961. "An Amphora by the Berlin Painter." Antike Kunst 4: 50, n. 3.

Beazley, J. D. 1963. Attic Red-Figured Vase-Painters. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 197, no. 3, and p. 1633.

Richter, Gisela M.A. 1970. "The Department of Greek and Roman Art: Triumphs and Tribulations." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3: pp. 85, 87, fig. 31.

Beazley, J. D. 1971. Paralipomena: Additions to Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters and to Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters (Second Edition). Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 342, no. 3.

von Bothmer, Dietrich. 1972. "Greek Vase Painting: An Introduction." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 31(1): no. 17, pp. 6, 42-43, 68.

Kurtz, D., and J. D. Beazley. 1983. The Berlin Painter. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 18, 22, 49, 61ff., 80, 104, 107, pls. I, XXXVI, a, b.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987. Greece and Rome. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 36, pp. 54-55.

Carpenter, T. H., comp. 1989. Beazley Addenda: Additional References to ABV, ARV2 & Paralipomena. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 190.

Maas, M., and J. M. Synder. 1989. Stringed Instruments of Ancient Greece. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 64, 65, 76, fig. 13.

Anderson, W. D. 1994. Music and Musicians in Ancient Greece. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, pp. 177, 195, pl. IV.

Sparkes, B. A. 2000. "Greek Painted Pottery." In Making Classical Art: Process and Practice, edited by R. Ling. Stroud: Tempus; Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, p. 72, fig. 40.

Neer, R. T. 2002. Style and Politics in Athenian Vase-Painting: The Craft of Democracy, ca. 530-460 B.C.E. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 72-73, figs. 33, 34.

Roccos, L. J. 2002. "The Citharode Apollo in Villa Contexts: A Roman Theme with Variations." In The Ancient Art of Emulation: Studies in Artistic Originality and Tradition from the Present to Classical Antiquity, edited by E. K. Gazda. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 277-78.

Bundrick, S. D. 2005. Music and Image in Classical Athens. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 2-3, 6, 18, 20, 164-65, 166, 203, n. 17, figs. 3, 4.

Picón, Carlos A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 118, pp. 108, 428-29.