Corinthian Etruscan Olpe (Heidelberg 64/3)
With the Corinthian Etruscan Olpe , the collection of antiquities at the University of Heidelberg has an outstanding piece by the painter of the bearded Sphinx under inventory number 64/3 .
From the late 8th to the middle of the 6th century BC Chr. Was Corinthian pottery one in much of the Mediterranean common export commodity. Especially in the Italian colonies of the Greeks and the neighboring Etruscans , this ceramic was not only imported early on, but also imitated. The Heidelberg Olpe is a particularly successful piece of Etrusco-Corinthian ceramics . Without a handle, it has a height of 27.4 centimeters. The tone is reddish-beige, the coating cream-colored. The vase acquired in the art trade in 1964 for the Heidelberg collection was put together from many pieces of broken glass, a small part of the lip and one of the two rotelles were modernized. Except for the edge and the underside of the foot, which were left with a clay background, all parts of the vase are covered or painted. The neck, the inside and outside of the mouth, rotelles, the figural and ornamental decorations on the body of the vessel, the base and, apart from part of the inside, the handle are covered with a black varnish . During the firing process, instead of turning black as planned, it has turned terracotta red.
Animal friezes were common for Corinthian ceramics. The Olpe has two, a large one on the stomach and a much smaller one above at the base of the neck. The main frieze shows no real animals, but three mythical creatures. On the back, this is a hybrid creature with a panther head, two panther feet, a bird's tail and three wings. A soaring fish is shown under the front wing. On the front face a lion gripping on the right and a bearded sphinx on the left. The sphinx has a strikingly large nose and wears a cap on its head. Both are reminiscent of older models in art, while the second animal frieze and also the panther, who looks at the viewer frontally, are typical of Corinthian vase painting of the late 7th century BC. Are. Above all, the hybrid creature on the back with its tail and wing position also takes on Etruscan influences. The smaller frieze shows an ibex, a lion and a deer from the handle on the right. Under the base of the lower frieze there is a loose tongue band as an ornamental decoration, free areas are filled with blob rosettes throughout. Five white blob rosettes are also applied to the neck as jewelry. The stag is also marked with white dots. The neck or mane of the lion, sphinx and griffin, as well as parts of the plumage of the three mythical creatures and the cap of the sphinx, are purple.
The Olpe was assigned to the painter of the bearded Sphinx on the basis of stylistic studies. This probably had his workshop in Vulci . His vases were mostly divided into animal friezes of the same size, making this Olpe an exception in the work of this important Etruscan ceramist. The vase is clearly based on Greek models made of ceramic, which in turn imitate metal models. Above all, the rotelles at the base of the handle, but also the three-part corrugated shape of the handle are reminiscent of such models. Technically, the vase painter did not match the Greek models. The mythical creatures show hardly any body tension and the heads have failed especially when grasping.
The origin of the vase is not known. It is found in the early 6th century BC. Dated.
literature
- Roland Hampe , Hildegund Gropengiesser : From the collection of the Archaeological Institute of Heidelberg University. (= Works of art in Heidelberg . Volume 2). Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 1967, pp. 34, 96–97, plate 11.
- Roland Hampe : Protocorinthian jug. In: The same and collaborators: New acquisitions 1957 - 1970. (= catalog of the collection of antique cabarets of the Archaeological Institute of Heidelberg University, Volume 2), Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1971, pp. 44, 71.