Objects

Four men recline on long beds draped in cloth for a banquet or symposium. Another man is seated on the front edge of the table. He speaks to the figure at his left, and scratched above his head is the Greek word Scio (I know). He looks at a smaller male, likely enslaved, in front of the beds, who extends a silver cup to him. An even smaller male, possibly a child, appears to help the man sitting on the table with his shoe. At the right a third small figure supports a reveler who appears to be incapacitated; the word Bibo (I drink) is scratched above him. At the center of the reclining guests is a man whose white hair is covered with a cloth. A small, dark-skinned boy is seated on his lap. Scratched above the man’s head is Valetis (Be Well), and above the boy, Isisa, possibly his name.

Banquet scene with inscribed words

A seated female artist gazes at the sculpture before her while reaching back with her paintbrush to a box of pigments. Her painting of a sculpture has been placed on the floor directly beneath its model as the artist applies the finishing touches. The artist’s focus is not disturbed by two richly dressed woman, perhaps patrons, looking on thoughtfully from behind a pillar.

Painter at work

A woman in a robe looks fearful as her right arm is grabbed from the left by Achilles and from the right by Odysseus, who wears a small skullcap and holds a long spear. Achilles’ shield is upright between Odysseus and the woman. She is Deidamia, daughter of King Lycomedes and pregnant with Achilles’ child. Her father is in the background at the left. A soldier is slightly behind him on the right. At the far right a nude woman, holding drapery above and behind her, is fleeing the scene.

Achilles on the Island of Skyros

Deidamia, the daughter of Lycomedes, is at the center. Her right arm is grabbed by Achilles, who is behind her and reaches for his shield, which stands upright in front of Deidamia. At her left is Odysseus, who wears a small skullcap and holds a short spear in his left hand. Behind Deidamia and seated or standing just above her, King Lycomedes calmly surveys the scene. At his right a helmeted solder blows a trumpet as the sign of an impending battle. Other helmeted soldiers crowd the background.

Achilles on the Island of Skyros

An interior scene in a muted earth-tone palette. In the right foreground a nude figure with drapery across his lap holds a small rectangular board that tells the fate of the man at left. This man, Admetus, is nude from mid-thigh up, with a robe covering his legs and a sword balanced against his right knee. At the center, his wife, Alcestis, wears robes and listens with her left hand under her chin. Admetus points to the scroll at the center of the painting. At the left, the god Apollo is behind a wall. He has persuaded the Fates to save Alcestis’s life if someone will take his place. At the far right in the background are an elderly couple, Alcestis’s parents.

Admetus and Alcestis

Queen Dido of Carthage sits enthroned at center while a small ship sails off in the distant background in the top left. A dark-skinned woman at left holds an ivory drinking vessel shaped like a tusk, and the light-skinned female figure at right wears an elephant headdress. A woman behind the throne holds a small parasol over the queen’s head.

Dido abandoned by Aeneas

In the left foreground a large muscular nude male holds a club in his right hand. At the right are four sheep. Behind the man is a large rocky outcropping. In a large body of water at right, a nude woman, seen from the back, arrives on the back of a dolphin. She is escorted and introduced by the sound of a triton’s shell-trumpet.

Polyphemus and Galatea

A man with a dark complexion is seated on a rock outcropping in the foreground. A panther skin covers his right hip. In his left hand he holds a pastoral staff, and with his right he points to his chin, as if to indicate surprise. To the left of the man, a woman points to him and turns to a woman at her right. That woman holds a fan and looks at the man. The interaction may represent the first meeting of Polyphemus and Galatea. In the background is a building decorated with the relief of a battle scene.

Polyphemus and Galatea

A young man is shown from the neck up framed by a round brown circle. His curly red hair is partially covered by a green peaked cap. He wears a pinkish robe, and an arrowhead extends upward behind his left shoulder.

Portrait of Paris

A portrait of a young man shown from the neck up. Dark curls extend beneath his peaked cap, and there is an arrowhead behind his left shoulder. The image is somewhat fuzzy from apparent wear and loss of pigment.

Portrait of Paris

At center an elderly man is seated on the floor of a small room with a barred window. Rags cover him only to his waist. A young woman feeds him from her breast. From outside the prison cell, a male figure peers through the window. Light streams through the window to illuminate the two figures in the room.

Cimon and Pero

Two nude women are shown frontally on either side of a third nude woman seen from the back at center. The hair of each is wreathed in braids. The women stand on a nearly flat, barren plane, with a small rocky outcropping at the lower right. The figures posed frontally hold sheaves of grass in one hand, while the central figure extends her arms across the other two, as if to embrace the one at left and to hand a small spherical object to the one at right.

The Three Graces

At the lower right is Hercules, depicted with a dark complexion and an ivy-leaf crown. He reclines against a rock with his left arm supporting his torso upright and his right arm extended above him. In the center are three erotes who attempt to lift Hercules’ club, and behind him is an altar. Standing on the altar are three other erotes, who hold his quiver. At the top right, is Omphale, who is seated. To her right, another woman stands and with her left hand supports herself against a column. A third woman stands behind Omphale on her left. All three women look down at the drunken figure below. In the background is a tree with pine needles in the topmost branches. Behind that are faintly depicted mountains.

Hercules and Omphale

A circular frame encloses the shoulder-length portraits of two figures. At the left is a woman wearing a lion-skin headdress, holding a wooden club, and extending her right arm. The fingers of her hand slightly extend beyond the frame as if to break the sense of pictorial illusion. At the right is a bearded man wearing an ivy crown and embracing the woman with his left arm.

Hercules and Omphale

The central figure of a nude man wears an ivy-leaf crown and holds a spear in his left hand. His wine cup has fallen to the ground, and he is supported under his right arm by an elderly bearded man. At the right a partially nude woman with a robe draped across her groin and legs leans against the man’s club with her left hand. She wears a lion-skin headdress. Several standing figures look on in the background. Three small childlike figures of erotes are also at play. One blows pipes into the younger man’s left ear; one peeps out from under the robes of the elderly man; and a third attempts to set the wine cup aright.

Hercules and Omphale

Beneath a canopy, reclining winged erotes and psyches (young girls with butterfly wings that personify the soul) enjoy an outdoor banquet. Two of the erotes play stringed instruments. A statue of Dionysus appears in the background above the canopy.

Symposium of erotes

Beneath a canopy, five winged erotes recline on beds to enjoy the wine in cups set before them on a three-legged table with (perhaps) lion-paw feet A statue of Dionysus appears in the background above the canopy. The painting shows considerable wear and pigment loss.

Symposium of erotes and psyches

Beneath a canopy, a group of psyches dance to the music of an erote at center who plays a pipe.

Dance of psyches

A group of psyches make music beneath a canopy. At the left, two sing. In the center a third psyche plays a stringed instrument. At the far right a fourth opens a box that holds a draped cloth. Below that figure sits an erote.

Concert of psyches

Beneath a canopy, a group of psyches listen to the music of another psyche who plays a pipe.

Concert of psyches

At the center a mask with eyes, nose, mouth, and red hair is surrounded by grape leaves and bunches of grapes. The mask’s eyes look directly out of the picture plane. The painting has a pastel color palette with pinks, greens, and oranges.

Mask amid bunches of grapes and vines