PELIKE Magna Graecia, Apulia · 4th century BC Pottery Height 32 cm Provenance - Private collection, Landshut, Germany. 1970 - 1980. Condition Good state of conservation, recomposed of all the original fragments, covering the break lines. Documents - Thermoluminescence test attached. The pelike or pélice is a variety of small amphora, with a wide base and globular body. In this case it is a glass characteristic of Apulian productions, with the lip separated from the high neck and the foot with an important molding, which provides greater stability. The pelike , created in Athens at the end of the 6th century BC and documented until the 4th BC, was probably used for wine storage. Decorated with the red figure technique, with figurative scenes, it presents a clear differentiation between the two faces. On the obverse or side A two figures appear in a symmetrical composition, facing each other. On the left side a woman dressed in a chiton is represented, sitting in profile on a rock, with her body slightly turned towards the front, evoking movement. She wears her hair tied up in a high bun and adorned with a tiara, and holds a phiale in her left hand, which she directs towards the front, and an alabaster in the left, which she raises behind her back, at the height of her head. On the right side of the composition appears a naked young man, with a cloak that is wrapped around his left arm and wearing sandals. Standing, he turns his body to show his torso almost frontal, while he advances his right hand, which holds a plant crown. Between both figures is a laurel or olive branch, arranged vertically. Some details appear brushed in a light-toned pigment: the twig that emerges from the phiale , the profile of the alabastron , the fruits on the branch and a small ribbon that floats in the air behind the woman's back. Behind the man, a five-petal rosette. On this A side the neck is decorated with a frieze of circular rosettes. The floor plane is a frieze of meanderings alternating with boxes with crosses and dots, which extends along the entire perimeter of the glass. On the reverse or side B the painter has a simpler composition, very common in Apulian production (fig. 1). These are two young people dressed in himation and wearing sandals, looking at each other in an attitude of conservation, one of them with a cane that marks the central axis of the scene. Between both figures, at the height of their heads, a circular medallion has been represented composed of two weightlifters, ancient Greek dumbbells used for weight lifting and long jumping. On this reverse side, the border that adorns the neck of the pelike houses a garland of laurel leaves. The floor is the same as the front one, since it is a perimeter frieze. The decoration of the pelike is completed with large palmettes located under the handles, flanked by synthetic vegetal scrolls. pelike is preserved in the British Museum in London apulus whose main scene is remarkably similar to that of the piece under study (fig. 2), the two figures repeating themselves in a very similar way, although the objects they hold vary slightly. In addition, said glass also has two ephebes with halteres on the back. In the same museum you can see another pelike (fig. 3) with a scene that is also very similar, although the objects held by the characters do change noticeably, as does the border that adorns the neck. The two ephebes are repeated again on the reverse, now without a barbell medallion. In southern Italy and Sicily, the region known as Magna Graecia, there is ceramic production imitating Attic red-figure vessels as early as the early 5th century BC. It is not known exactly how Greek technical knowledge reached Italy, although it is probably It was due to the emigration of Athenian artisans fleeing the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). Indeed, the defeat of Athens by the Spartans led to the decline of Attic production of red-figure pottery and therefore its export, which undoubtedly spurred local Italian production. The first workshop established as such will appear around the year 440 in Metaponto , Lucania , and by the middle of the 4th century the production of Magna Graecia will be in full swing. However, the Italian workshops will gradually lose quality and disappear towards the end of the century. In the region of Apulia, north of the Gulf of Taranto and east of the Apennine Mountains, the main producing center of painted ceramics in Magna Graecia was located. There two parallel styles would develop within the red figure technique: one called Simple Style and another known as Ornate. The first avoided using more colors than the basic red and black, and was mainly used for small vessels such as the bell krater. Its main representatives were the Sisyphus Painters ( act . 420-390 BC) and Tarporley ( act . 400-375 BC). This first style will become more complicated as time goes by, and by the middle of the 4th century BC it will already be very similar to the Ornate one. The latter was preferably used for larger vessels, such as scroll kraters, amphorae, loutrophoroi and hydria. Compositions of this style represented up to twenty figures, many of them floating, without a ground plane, and often organized in two or more registers. This second style was also characterized by the rich use of color, especially red, ocher and white. The great masters of the Ornate style were the Painters of Iliupersis ( act . 375-350 BC), of Darius ( act . 340-320 BC) and of Baltimore ( act . 325-300 BC). Red-figure pottery was one of the most important figurative styles of Greek pottery. It was developed in Athens around 520 BC, and was used until the 3rd century BC. It replaced the previously predominant style of black-figure pottery within a few decades. The technical basis was the same in both cases, but in the red figures the color is inverted, leaving the figures highlighted on a dark background, as if they were illuminated by a theatrical light, following a more natural scheme. Painters who worked 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 for 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 tone. Therefore, the motifs were invisible before firing, due to which the painters had to work completely from memory, without being able to see their previous work. Once the piece was fired, the areas not covered by the varnish remained with the reddish tone of the clay, while the glazed, “painted” areas took on a dense and shiny black color. BIBLIOGRAPY: - Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Paris: Union Académique Internationale, www.cvaonline.org - DENOYELLE, M.; IOZZO, M. La céramique grecque d’Italie Méridionale et de Sicile. A. J. Picard. 2009. - MAYO, M. ed. The Art of South Italy, Vases from Magna Graecia. Richmond. 1987. - TRENDALL, A.D.; CAMBITOGLOU, A. The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia. Clarendon Press. 1978. - TRENDALL, A. D. Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily. Thames and Hudson. 1989. PARALLELS; Fig. 1 Pelike of the Painter of Dijon. Apulia, Magna Graecia, h. 380-360 BC, ceramics. British Museum, London, inv. 1824,0501.27. Fig. 2 Pelike of the Painter of Dijon. Apulia, Magna Graecia, h. 380-360 BC, ceramics. British Museum, London, inv. 1824,0501.27. Fig. 3 Pelike of the Varrese Painter. Apulia, Magna Graecia, h. 360-330 BC, ceramics. British Museum, London, inv. 1867,0508.1280. Fig. 4 Pelike of the Louvre Painter MNB 1148. Apulia, Magna Graecia, c. 340-320 BC, ceramics. British Museum, London, inv. 1859,0216.112. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.