Funerary Naiskoi on Apulian Red-Figure Pottery: Sources and Implications Revisited (20 min)

Presenters

Karolina Sekita, Tel-Aviv University

Abstract

Taras/Taranto, the only colony of Sparta in the area, was long believed by scholars to have channeled Greek influence into Iapygian territories, obviously Doric rather than Attic/Ionic. Yet, there is disagreement among scholars as to whether Tarantine funerary naiskoi bear Attic influence or not, and if so, what its medium would be. In my contribution, I would like to suggest one quite likely candidate responsible for the introduction of Athenian/Attic funerary architectural elements and motifs into indigenous and Tarantine markets: Attic painters. It has recently been agreed that many of the Apulian red-figure pots were indeed made by Attic painters. Analysis of the funerary architecture represented on the obverse of Apulian red-figure pottery, seen against Attic funerary stelae as well as funerary monuments represented on Attic white ground lekythoi, shows that some of the representations of funerary naiskoi on Apulian vases have equivalents in Attica. This paper, therefore, explores these international equivalents reaching the important conclusion that these images might have not necessarily been inspired by the Tarantine naiskoi.

  AIA-6F