|
The Greek colonies of southern Italy
(known in antiquity as Magna Grecia)
were marked by their initial allegiance
to the ceramic styles of the Attic
mainland. However, over the years,
native traditions and innovations
heavily influenced the works of Magna
Grecian potters. Unorthodox forms and
painting-styles were seamlessly merged
with the standard Greek style, creating
distinctive works of art unique to the
Hellenistic world. This gorgeous red-
figure stamnos comes from the Faliscan
region of central Italy, to the
northwest of Rome. Neighbors of the
Etruscans, today the Faliscan people are
best remembered for their language,
which was believed to be very similar to
Latin. So similar, in fact, that
scholars believed the language was
displaced by Latin in the years after
Falerii, the Faliscan capital, was
conquered by the Romans in 241 B.C.
Faliscan pottery, as revealed by this
red-figured stamnos, was highly
influenced by the vessels created by
their Greek neighbors to the south.
Belonging to the so-called “Fluid
Group,” this stamnos, with its wide
mouth, broad body with two handles, and
footed base, would have been used for
the storage and transportation of wine.
One side of the work has been decorated
with the painted image of a bearded
satyr steadying a large amphora with his
left and while simultaneously drinking
from a smaller white one with his right
hand. White pigment has also been
employed to highlight his shoes, his
pearl diadem that crowns his heads, and
the pearl necklace draped across his
torso. The other side is adorned with
an image of Eros, facing left, holding a
thyrsos. He too wears white shoes and a
pearl diadem. The large palmette and
scrolling tendrils that decorate the
intermediate space between the two main
scenes is typical of Magna Grecian art.
Satyrs typically symbolize the darker
side of man’s nature that the
consumption of wine has a tendency to
encourage. Hence, these wild creatures
were quite popular as decorations for
wine vessels, perhaps warning the
drinker to be wary. Juxtaposed to the
Eros figure on the opposite side, these
two scenes seem to depict the best and
the worst ideal of mankind: affection
and inebriation.
- (X.0102)
|
