FRANçOIS VASE

The 'François Vase', a milestone in the development of Greek pottery, is a large volute krater decorated in the black-figure style which stands at 66cm in height. Dated at circa 570 BCE it was found in 1844 in an Etruscan tomb in the necropolis of Fonte Rotella near Chiusi and named after its discoverer Alessandro François; it is now in the Museo Archeologico at Florence. It bears the inscription “Ergotimos epoiesen; Cleitias egraphsen” "Ergotimos made [me]; Kleitias painted [me]” - the first evidence that the roles of potter and painter had become separate at this early date. It depicts over 200 figures representing a number of mythological themes and as such it perhaps makes no overall narrative sense, however it has been suggested that its principal subject is the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. In 1900 a museum guard threw a stool at the case that contained the vase and smashed it into 638 pieces. It was restored in 1904 by Pietro Zei, and a second reconstruction took place in 1974 incorporating previously missing pieces.

Contents

References

External links

References

★ Antonio Minto: ''Il Vaso François'', Florence 1960

★ ''Materiali per servire alla storia del Vaso François''. Rome 1981 (Bollettino d'arte, Serie speciale 1)

External links

★ Museo Archeologico