Cratera of Campana; Apulia, Magna Grecia, 4th... Lot 5

Cratera of Campana; Apulia, Magna Grecia, 4th century BC. Ceramic with the technique of red figures. Attached thermoluminescence certificate. It presents reconstruction in the part of the foot and restorations on fracture lines of the original fragments. Measurements: 35 x 34 cm (diameter). Apulian crater of red figures with two lateral handles. Flared body, upturned twin handles and flared rim, all on a concave, stepped and rounded foot. Red designs on a black background, with white and yellow accessories. Above the designs, a laurel wreath; below each, a wavy band. Large palmettes under the handles. Obverse with a young male figure seated left on vegetation, with embroidered fillet, long hair, himation bordered over lower limbs and offering a circle of withe, perhaps a phiale. Opposite, a standing youth holding a tirsos and a mantle over the left arm. On the reverse, two young men facing each other, dressed in himation, are engaged in conversation, one of them holding a staff. The type known by its shape as "bell-shaped" has small horizontal handles, protruding and directed upwards, and with an inverted bell-shaped vessel; it is a late-use type. The chalice krater is a more modern type than the columnar and scroll type, though earlier than the bell krater, and its shape, with an almost inverted trapezoid profile, is reminiscent of the flower chalice. Red-figure pottery was one of the most important figurative styles of Greek pottery. It was developed in Athens around 530 B.C., and was used until the 3rd century B.C. It replaced the previous predominant style of black-figured pottery within a few decades. The technical basis was the same in both cases, but in the red figures the coloring is inverted, the figures being highlighted on a dark background, as if they were illuminated by a theatrical light, following a more natural scheme. Painters working with black figures were forced to keep the motifs well separated from each other and to limit the complexity of the illustration. In contrast, the red-figure technique allowed greater freedom. Each figure was silhouetted against a black background, allowing painters to portray anatomical details with more accuracy and variety. The technique consisted of painting the motifs on the still wet piece, using a transparent varnish that, when fired, acquired an intense black hue. Therefore, the motifs were invisible before firing, which meant that the painters had to work entirely from memory, without being able to see their previous work. Once the piece was fired, the areas not covered by the glaze remained with the reddish tone of the clay, while the glazed areas, the "painted" ones, took on a dense and shiny black color. Attached thermoluminescence certificate. It presents reconstruction in the part of the foot and restorations on fracture lines of the original fragments.