Greek Vase
Figure 1 – Obverse View of the Terracotta Loutrophoros
Terracotta Loutrophoros (fig. 1) epitomizes the distinctive style of funerary vases created in Apulia, a region located in South Italy. The vase is attributed to the Metope Painter and was created around the third quarter of fourth century B.C.
South Italian vase painting has been the subject of “neglect [and] general disparagement” due to the “emphasis placed upon the study of Archaic and Classical Greek art.” South Italian art has been looked upon as “provincial and colonial, imply[ing] that it is somehow inferior to the art of the motherland.” Although South Italian vase painting may be a “direct descendant of the tradition of vase-painting in Attic,” it developed a completely different artistic style with new aesthetic concepts and intentions. In this essay, I demonstrate the distinctive style, iconography, and motifs of South Italian vase painting of both this Terracotta Loutrophoros and Apulian vase painting as a whole, as well as how South Italian vase painting is a significant contribution to the study of Ancient Greek vase-painting.
South Italian Vase Painting The Greeks started to colonize South Italy in the second half of the eighth century B.C. South Italy is often referred to as Magna Graecia, or “Great Greece,” a term coined in antiquity that “reflects the economics and intellectual vitality of the western Greeks, as well as the large geographical area of their settlement.”
South Italians appear to have always had great appreciation for Attic vases. This high demand allowed an import trade of ceramics to flourish between Athens and South Italy. During the third quarter of fifth century B.C., South Italians began to supplement the imports with locally-produced vases “closely modeled upon Attic prototypes in both shape and design.” The close resemblance perhaps implies that vase painters had “either received training in Athens or that they [may] have been immigrants from that
Terracotta Loutrophoros (fig. 1) epitomizes the distinctive style of funerary vases created in Apulia, a region located in South Italy. The vase is attributed to the Metope Painter and was created around the third quarter of fourth century B.C.
South Italian vase painting has been the subject of “neglect [and] general disparagement” due to the “emphasis placed upon the study of Archaic and Classical Greek art.” South Italian art has been looked upon as “provincial and colonial, imply[ing] that it is somehow inferior to the art of the motherland.” Although South Italian vase painting may be a “direct descendant of the tradition of vase-painting in Attic,” it developed a completely different artistic style with new aesthetic concepts and intentions. In this essay, I demonstrate the distinctive style, iconography, and motifs of South Italian vase painting of both this Terracotta Loutrophoros and Apulian vase painting as a whole, as well as how South Italian vase painting is a significant contribution to the study of Ancient Greek vase-painting.
South Italian Vase Painting The Greeks started to colonize South Italy in the second half of the eighth century B.C. South Italy is often referred to as Magna Graecia, or “Great Greece,” a term coined in antiquity that “reflects the economics and intellectual vitality of the western Greeks, as well as the large geographical area of their settlement.”
South Italians appear to have always had great appreciation for Attic vases. This high demand allowed an import trade of ceramics to flourish between Athens and South Italy. During the third quarter of fifth century B.C., South Italians began to supplement the imports with locally-produced vases “closely modeled upon Attic prototypes in both shape and design.” The close resemblance perhaps implies that vase painters had “either received training in Athens or that they [may] have been immigrants from that