c.400 BCE - 300 BCE
Terracotta
Height 42.4 cm | Height 16 3/4 in AM.0018
PaestumPaestum (in antiquity Poseidonia), a city located near the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Campania region of Southern Italy, was founded in around 600 BC by Greek settlers. Strabo writes that at the end of the 5th century BC, the city was conquered by the Lucanians, a neighbouring Italic tribe. It remained under Lucanian control until 273 BC, when it became a Roman colony following the Pyrrhic War. It is known for its archaeological remains, including three incredibly well-preserved Greek Doric temples, two dedicated to Hera and one to Athena, as well as its painted tombs. It is also renowned for being the source of one of the five main regional styles of South Italian vase painting (the others being Lucanian, Apulian, Campanian, and Sicilian). The vases have been found primarily in tombs in Paestum itself and the surrounding area.1
1 For an overview of the excavations at Paestum and the surrounding area, see Emanuale Greco, ‘Ricerche sulla chora poseidoniate’ in Dialoghi di Archeologia n.s.1/2 (1979), pg.7-26.
Paestan fabric has been described as “probably the most consistent”2 out of these five styles, (Lucanian, Apulian, Campanian, and Sicilian) with the key features remaining the same throughout its period of production (the 4th century BC), aside from during the Apulianising phase, towards the end of the century. The bell-krater is the most popular shape, and its Paestan variation is distinguished by a near-cylindrical body, with tall, straight sides. Other common shapes include hydriai, neck-amphorae, lebetes gamikoi, lekanides, squat lekythoi, choes and skyphoi. Paestan clay can be identified by a particularly high mica content, and the orange-brown colour that it fires to (as opposed to Campanian clay, for example, which is more of a light brown colour).
Dionysiac themes are popular on Paestan vases. The god himself is usually represented holding a thyrsus and wearing an ivy wreath, and is sometimes accompanied by one of his followers, such as a satyr or a maenad. Theatrical scenes are also prevalent, particularly those associated with the Phlyax genre. No Phlyax plays survive in their entirety, but the information from fragments and visual representations suggests that the genre was a form of mythological burlesque, mixing divine figures from Greek religion with stock characters and themes from Attic New Comedy. Bridal preparation scenes are also a common choice for Paestan vases, especially on lebetes gamikoi, which were used in marriage ceremonies. Mythological scenes are not especially frequent, and funerary scenes are notably rare. The reverse sides of Paestan kraters and amphorae often depict two draped youths. These figures are usually holding something; sticks, eggs, and strigils are all common, as well as an object consisting of several white circles on top of each other which has been termed a “skewer of fruit”, but could also represent cakes.3 The latter is rarely seen on vases not produced in Paestum.
2 A. D. Trendall, Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1989), pg.196.
3 G. Schneider-Herrmann, ‘Eine Pästaner Weihgabe’ in BABesch 51 (1976), pg.74.
Paestan ware can sometimes be identified by the inclusion of distinctive decorative features, such as the wave pattern which often appears in a horizontal line beneath the images, as opposed to the meander and crossed square patterns which are common in other South Italian styles (although these latter two are also used in Paestan decoration). The scenes are often bounded by ‘framing palmettes’. This motif developed from the side-scrolls and palmette-fans seen in Sicilian decoration, which is viewed as the style from which Paestan evolved.4 Over time, it became more common for the side-scrolls to be further away or even separated from the palmette-fans, forming a border around the pictures. An addition to the scroll-work seen on vases thought to be painted by Asteas or his followers is a motif known as the ‘Asteas flower’, which features a white stamen emerging from a dark round centre. Laurel wreath appears as in this vase the standard decoration below the rim on kraters, or sometimes berried ivy on the obverse of larger examples, which has been seen as a Sicilian feature.5 The dot-stripe border pattern is frequently used on the edges of the drapery of ordinary figures, while divinities and mythological characters often wear highly decorated garments.
4 A.D. Trendall, The Red-Figured Vases of Paestum (British School at Rome, 1987), pg.16.
5 A.D. Trendall, The Red-Figured Vases of Paestum (British School at Rome, 1987), pg.17.
Paestan is unique among th South Italian fabrics in that painters sometimes sign their names, and therefore we have been able to establish a corpus of works attributed to two named painters, Asteas and Python. There are at least twelve vases signed by Asteas known to us today.6 Most are relatively large, and depict theatrical or mythological scenes. On signed works, the painters also add the names of the figures above their heads, allowing us to interpret the scene more easily. Multiple unsigned vases have also been attributed to Asteas on stylistic grounds. Python is generally considered to be a slightly later contemporary of Asteas, and there are two extant signed vases by him, as well as several unsigned examples which are considered similar enough to also have been by his hand. The styles of the two named painters are very similar, leading many scholars to conclude that their production occurred in the same workshop, along with several other painters whose names are not signed on any extant vases (although some individuals have been given modern identifications, such as the Aphrodite Painter and the Boston Orestes Painter).7
6 Erika Simon, “The Paestan painter Asteas,” in Greek Vases. Images, Contexts and Controversies. Proceedings of the conference sponsored by the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean at Columbia University, 23-24 March 2002, ed. Clemente Marconi (Leiden: Brill, 2004), pg. 113.
7 A. D. Trendall, Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1989), pg.204.
Towards the end of the 4th century, a group of vases was created at Paestum which have been described as being of a “strongly Apulianizing style”.8 It is unlikely that they were imports, as the high mica content of the clay suggests that it was sourced locally, and the quantity is considered unusually large for imported ware. The commonly accepted explanation is that there was a group of painters from Apulia who worked at Paestum, and who seem to have kept their artistic tradition separate; although these vessels occasionally use Paestan shapes and decorative patterns, the Apulian style is not totally assimilated but remains distinct.
8 A. D. Trendall, Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily, (London: Thames and Hudson, 1989), pg.207.
Height 42.4 cm
Height 16 3/4 in
This red-figure bell krater is a beautiful example of Paestan ware. A krater is a common type of Greek vase, traditionally used for mixing wine with water to dilute it, because drinking unmixed wine was seen as uncivilised. They would often have been used at symposia, a type of gathering in ancient Greece where men from higher-status families would gather to drink, listen to music, and have conversations. Kraters are normally large, with a handle on either side near the top of the vase. At a symposium, the krater would be placed in the centre of the room, and the wine would be served from it using smaller vessels such as kyathoi, amphorae, and kylikes. At each event, a symposiarch would be elected. His role was to direct the wine servants, and therefore to control the strength of the wine being served and the rate at which it was being consumed. Because of the focus on drinking at symposia (the word literally means ‘drink together’), the krater would have been an important vessel in the home of anyone who was accustomed to hosting such events. There are several different varieties of krater, named after details of their shapes. The column krater is described thus because of the shape of its handles, as is the volute krater. The lower part of the calyx krater is shaped like a botanical calyx: the sepals of a flower which protect the petals when it is in bud. This example is a bell krater, as the shape when inverted resembles a bell.
On this krater, the main images are bordered by a laurel wreath underneath the rim at the top, and a meander and crossed box pattern at the bottom. The large palmette motifs under the handles have side-scrolls attached on either side; each one of the four of these is slightly different from the others. However, they all broadly conform to Trendall’s type IIIA,9 which he assigns to the early Paestan period, because of the single palmette leaf underneath the uppermost scroll, and the fact that they are attached to the palmettes at the base (although they do not have the descending hook-shaped leaf also common in this type).
On the obverse, there is a scene depicting two soldiers who appear to be engaged in conversation with a third man. The soldiers are wearing short tunics with decoration around the necklines and belts at their waists. They are each holding a spear and a large round shield and wearing a helmet. Some of the details of the helmets have been lost and therefore their precise shape is difficult to make out, but there are traces of paint which suggest that both helmets would have had two plumes. This distinctive helmet shape is characteristic of Samnite warriors.10 These figures often appear on Paestan vases after the Lucanian conquest of Paestum at the end of the 5th century.11 The soldiers are both standing in relaxed positions, especially the one on the left who is leaning casually on his shield. They are facing towards the figure at the far left of the scene, who is dressed in civilian clothes and is wearing a headdress. He is gesturing towards the soldiers, and looks as though he is telling them something.
10 Christine Saulnier, L’armée et la guerre chez les peoples samnites (Paris: De Boccard, 1983), pg.62-9. 11 A.D. Trendall, The Red-Figured Vases of Paestum (British School at Rome, 1987), pg.3.On the reverse there is a scene of three youths in conversation. This is a typical motif used on the reverse of Paestan vases, although usually there are only two men depicted. The composition is similar to the obverse in that the central and right-hand figures are turned towards the left-hand figure, who is gesturing with his right hand and looks as though he is speaking to them. The drapery style of the two men on the right is what Trendall identifies as a ‘sleeve’ drape (see Figure 2), often used for figures facing left, where the himation over the left arm forms a fold with the appearance of a sleeve. The man on the left is wearing his cloak in a ‘sling’ drape (see Figure 1), preferred for figures facing right, where the folds of the himation underneath the elbow of the bent right arm form a sling shape.12 Above these figures are a ring-shaped object, possibly a wreath, and a rectangular shape with three vertical lines. Although the drapery on this vase does not have patterned borders, the lines indicating the folds of the garments are very delicately and beautifully rendered.
Fig 2. Sleeve
Fig 1. Sling
Bibliography
• Greco, Emanuale. ‘Ricerche sulla chora poseidoniate.’ Dialoghi di Archeologia n.s. ½ (1979): pg.7-26.
• Saulnier, Christine. L’armée et la guerre chez les peoples samnites. Paris: De Boccard, 1983.
• Schneider-Hermann, G. ‘Eine Pästaner Weihgabe’. BABesch 51 (1976): pg.65-74.
• Simon, Erika. “The Paestan painter Asteas.” In Greek Vases. Images, Contexts and Controversies. Proceedings of the conference sponsored by the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean at Columbia University, 23-24 March 2002, edited by Clemente Marconi, pg.113-122. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
• Trendall, A.D. The Red-Figured Vases of Paestum. British School at Rome, 1987.
• Trendall, A.D. Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily. London: Thames and Hudson, 1989.
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