Etruscan vase painting
Etruscan vase painting was produced from the 7th through the 4th centuries BC, and is a major element in
Black-figure vase painting
The local production of Etruscan vases probably began in the 7th century BC. Initially, the vases followed examples of
Red-figure vase painting
An imitative adoption of the
Pseudo-red-figure vase painting
Early vessels of this style merely imitated the red-figure technique. As on some early Attic vases, this was achieved by covering the whole vase body in black shiny slip, then adding figures on top, using paints that would oxidise into red or white during firing. In true red-figure, the red areas were left free of slip. In pseudo-red-figure, internal details were marked by incision, similar to the usual practice in black-figure vase painting, rather than painted on, as in true red-figure. Important representatives of this style were the Praxias Painter and other masters of his workshop, which was located at Vulci. In spite of their extensive knowledge of Greek mythology and iconography - not always executed perfectly - there is no evidence that these masters were Greek immigrants. An exception is the Praxias Painter himself: since four of his vases bear painted inscriptions in Greek, he may have been of Greek origin.[1]
In Etruria, the pseudo-red-figure style was not just an early phenomenon, as it had been in Athens. Especially in the 4th century BC, some workshops specialised in this technique, although true red-figure was widespread in Etruscan workshops at the same time. Examples include the workshops of the Sokra Group and the Phantom Group. The somewhat older Sokra Group had a preference for cups with interior images from Greek mythology, sometimes also with Etruscan motifs. The Phantom Group mostly painted cloaked figures in combination with compositions of plant or palmette patterns. The workshops of both groups are supposed to have been located in Caere, Falerii and Tarquinia. The Phantom Group produced its wares until the early 3rd century BC. Changing tastes on the buyers' part spelled the end not just of true red-figure but also of this style.[2]
Red-figure vase painting
Only towards the end of the 5th century was the true red-figure technique, with the figures as reserved areas remaining in the actual clay colour, introduced to Etruria. The first such workshops developed in
In the second half of the 4th century BC, mythological themes disappeared from the repertoire of Etruscan vase painters. They were replaced with women's heads and figural depictions of not more than two persons. Instead, the vase bodies were now mostly covered with ornamental and floral motifs. Larger compositions now only occurred in exceptional cases, such as the
Bibliography
- Matthias Steinhart: Schwarzfigurige Vasenmalerei II. Ausserattisch. In: Der Neue Pauly, vol. 11, cols. 276-281.
References
- ISBN 3-8053-0439-0.
- ^ Huberta Heres – Max Kunze (Hrsg.): Die Welt der Etrusker, Archäologische Denkmäler aus Museen der sozialistischen Länder. Ausstellungskatalog Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR – Altes Museum vom 04. Oktober bis 30. Dezember 1988. Berlin 1988, p. 245–249
- ^ Huberta Heres – Max Kunze (Hrsg.): Die Welt der Etrusker, Archäologische Denkmäler aus Museen der sozialistischen Länder. Ausstellungskatalog Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR – Altes Museum vom 04. Oktober bis 30. Dezember 1988. Berlin 1988, p. 249–263