7 - Large Attic red-figure lekythos by a Mannerist artist associated with the Painter of Pan. 480–460 B.C. H 40.3 cm, ø 15.1 cm. The frieze depicts a mythological chase scene in which a warrior, sword drawn, pursues a fleeing young woman wearing a diadem. By analogy with other vase paintings, one can recognize here a scene from the Iliupersis—the fall of Troy—in which Menelaus, filled with rage, pursues his unfaithful wife Helen to the house of her new husband, Deiphobos. The myth tells us that Menelaus was going to kill Deiphobos, but upon seeing his beautiful wife, he forgets his resentment, reconciles with her, and returns home with her to Sparta. Between the heads and to the right of Helen runs an inscription in red; however, the first part of the inscription between the figures is a modern addition. The portion to the right of Helen’s head, however, is original and consists of a neutral Kalos inscription: ΗΟ ΠΑΙΣ ΚΑΛΟΣ. With the original invoice from Kricheldorf! Broken in the middle and reassembled with small retouched gaps; on the front, the glaze is largely modern, and parts of the figures have also been repainted in modern times, including the front of the helmet and Menelaus’s nose, as well as small areas on the robe and the contours of the arms and legs; his left arm, like Helen’s right arm, has been overpainted. On Helen’s head, only the face is original; larger sections on the lower and right sides of the robe have also been overpainted, and the front part of the inscription has been restored, while the rear portion has survived. Also original are the shoulder palmettes and the lustrous glaze on the back, the shoulder, the neck, and the spout; only the interior of the spout has been covered with a modern lustrous glaze. Provenance: From the West German private collection of S. M.; formerly in the collection of Dr. Horst Haertel, acquired in 1962 from H. H. Kricheldorf, Stuttgart. The reconciliation of Menelaus and Helen, which satisfies the highest value of Greek culture—namely, the preservation of the family—sets in motion a process of reconciliation that culminates in the atonement of Orestes for the murder of his mother. Thus, the greatest of all tragedies—the curse of the Tantalids—comes to an end after generations of unimaginable excesses involving incest and fratricide.