This edited volume examines the role of figured pottery, in particular, South Italian red figure vases, in the construction of cultural identity in Southern Italy, between the sixth and fourth centuries bc. It comprises a general introduction by the editors and fifteen essays – originally delivered as papers at a conference held in Berlin in 2016 in conjunction with the Dangerous Perfection exhibition on the so-called Ceglie Vases: thirteen Apulian red-figure pots from Ceglie del Campo (Bari), recently restored in partnership by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.
The sixteen contributions (published in German, Italian and English) differ greatly in their approach and scope, offering an interesting overview of the current state of the discipline of South Italian pottery studies. Three papers (V. Garaffa, A.C. Montanaro, F. Silvestrelli) discuss vessels from known archaeological contexts, while the others analyse vases for which we often lack secure provenance; two of these focus on pottery shapes (E. Herring, T.H. Carpenter), seven on iconography (M. Denoyelle, C. Nowak, K.E. Heuer, L. Todisco, L. Giuliani, L. Schönheit, S. Schierup) and three (L. Melillo, M. Svoboda, D. Saunders) on issues more directly related to the Ceglie vases exhibit.
Kästner and Schmidt's introductory essay provides a solid synopsis of the history of South Italian pottery studies and main scholarly debates, from the location of the workshops, to the prominence of the potters in the chaîne opératoire, to the importance of context. Their discussion of the agency of the Italic (i.e. non-Greek) populations in intercultural exchanges is very valuable. Most publications tend to comment on the adoption of Greek elements in local cultures or, at best, the effect that the Italic consumers had on the pottery market; far rarer are studies suggesting that the Italic populations might have affected Greek colonists’ behaviours.
Garaffa discusses Greek imports in Oenotria (northern Basilicata) in the archaic period, using as case studies two necropoleis and a settlement. She argues that, while Greek vases were certainly appealing to the local communities, the adoption of Greek shapes did not necessarily imply the adoption of practices. Rather, these vases might have been considered prestige objects that were used by the emerging elites to negotiate social roles within the local communities. More traditional is Montanaro's take on the iconography of Apulian red-figure vases from what he calls ‘warrior-chief tombs’. Focusing on a select number of elite burials from Central Apulia, he argues that the presence of Greek pots in these contexts should be read as the deceased's ‘adoption of cultural and ideological models of Hellenic origin’ (p. 26), from the symposion to athleticism.
Silvestrelli's paper offers the point of view of the Greek colonists, analysing red-figure pottery from published burials and sanctuaries at Heraclea (southern Basilicata). Despite the limited number of published contexts, she draws interesting conclusions about the inhabitants’ preference for specific shapes, iconographies and painters. She also provides a valuable discussion of the scant evidence for pottery production at this site and how the closeness to Metaponto might have affected Heraclea's economy, especially in its earliest phases.
Denoyelle's paper on the Palermo painter brings to attention the current state of connoisseurship studies on South Italian pottery. Due to new archaeological excavations, changes in location of the vases and new attributions, Trendall's seminal work has been progressively losing its impact. Thus, she urges the scholarly community to create a centralised online tool – à la the Beazley Archive in Oxford – to share information. This is a welcome suggestion; not only would it keep Trendall's legacy alive, but it would also help non-pottery specialists navigate what is now ‘a veritable jungle of diverse, scarce, and often inaccessible publications’ (p. 52).
Herring's and Carpenter's papers discuss the relationship between the consumption of specific shapes, respectively, nestorides and column kraters, and the construction of identity among Italic populations. Analysing the iconography on these vases and their depictions on other shapes, both conclude that distinct social groups in Central Apulia used these vessels in funerary practices to express carefully constructed messages about their identity. Herring's connection between nestorides and women, also noticed by F. Colivicchi in 2014, is interesting; unfortunately, as none of the vases he analysed come from a secure context, it cannot be definitely confirmed.
The relationship between Italic people and red-figure vases is also the subject of the two iconography papers by Nowak and Heuer. Nowak analyses the presence of characters in Italic garb on Campanian pottery, subverting the traditional narrative that connects these figures with the Samnite invasion of Campania in the late fifth century bc. Citing lack of clear archaeological evidence for an external takeover, her bold interpretation sees the changes in material culture in Campania as the result of a long period of internal unrest that brought subaltern groups to political and economic prevalence. Heuer discusses evidence for the worship of Dionysos in non-Greek communities, using as a case study the iconography of Campanian and Apulian pots that present both Italic characters and Dionysiac elements. The importance of Dionysos for the Italic populations has received much attention in scholarship; yet, the mechanics of the worship remain frustratingly elusive. Heuer's hypothesis that Dionysiac rites ‘reaffirmed and reestablished the bonds of marriage and the family unit as a whole, perhaps particularly at times before and after a physical separation’ (p. 92) is certainly suggestive. Hopefully future archaeological investigations will bring further understanding of the role of Dionysos in the Italic pantheon.
Todisco returns to the vexata quaestio of Apulian red-figure vases decorated with a central naiskos tomb – inside of which the deceased was usually depicted – and mourners. Todisco's paper, although necessarily brief, raises very important questions regarding the origin of these naiskos scenes and the funerary rituals they might illustrate, given the apparent dichotomy between their iconography and the reality of the archaeological record in Apulia.
The two papers by Giuliani and Schönheit explore the influence of theatrical performances on South Italian pottery iconography. Giuliani speculates on the old controversy (to which he humorously refers in his title: ‘Theatralische Elemente in der apulischen Vasenmalerei: Bescheidene Ergebnisse einer alten Kontroverse’) whether Apulian vase painters had been inspired by the plot of Attic tragedies or by actual theatrical performances. Schönheit, instead, identifies regional differences in how plays were depicted on South Italian vases; she connects these patterns to the diffusion of theatre among Italic populations, although one could possibly argue that other factors, for example Italic forms of entertainment, might have also played a role.
The last iconography paper, by Schierup, discusses three late fourth-century bc Lucanian vases in the National Museum in Copenhagen. Schierup compares the iconography of these three vases (an acrobat on horseback, a battle scene and a hunt) to tomb frescoes in Paestum, hypothesising that all three vases might depict funerary games for members of the Italic elite.
The final group of papers discusses topics more closely related to the Dangerous Perfection exhibition. Melillo examines the restoration practices of the infamous Raffaele Gargiulo – the nineteenth-century master restorer of the Ceglie Vases. Gargiulo was so proficient at his craft that his extensive additions created a ‘dangerous’ illusion of perfection. Melillo's analysis is a sobering tale that should be taken to heart by anyone who writes about iconography, as the choices made by Gargiulo and his contemporaries profoundly affect the very appearance of the vases. Svoboda illustrates the six-year collaboration between the Getty Museum and the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, which culminated in the exhibition. After detailing the role of the Getty, she returns to the discussion of Gargiulo's work and highlights the importance of documenting and preserving historic restorations, as they are an integral part of the biography of an artefact.
The volume ends with D. Saunders's contribution on the iconography of the fourteen vases in the exhibition. These vessels were probably found in three continuous tombs in the early nineteenth century, although the original contexts are now lost. Saunders is able to highlight the visual and narrative ties between the vases and to offer interesting observations on how they might relate to contemporary Central Apulian society.
As this volume originates from conference proceedings, the papers vary greatly in their topics and approaches, with some of them only loosely connected to the given title of ‘Staging Identities’. However, its heterogeneity is also one of the strengths of this publication, as it introduces non-specialists to the major scholarly trends in South Italian pottery studies and the inherent difficulties of the field – from the lack of information about archaeological contexts, to the silence of the ancient sources, to the vicissitudes of nineteenth-century restorations.
Also valuable is the book's focus on the agency of the consumers of South Italian pottery, in particular among the Italic communities. The interest in pre-Roman populations of Italy is rising in Classical scholarship, while the consumers’ role is a growing and important topic in the field of pottery studies. I would have appreciated a more nuanced discussion of the relationship between material culture, practices and the construction of cultural identity, especially because many papers use anthropologically significant words (e.g. ethne, indigenous, native) to describe ancient populations whose origin might still be uncertain.
The presence of papers detailing the different experiences of the various Italic populations signals another welcome shift in scholarship; influenced by the Hellenocentric perspective of the ancient sources, too often publications discuss the non-Greek inhabitants of Southern Italy as a monolithic entity. Moving away from the oversimplified dichotomy of ‘Greek’ vs ‘Other’ will open further exciting avenues to explore regional and sub-regional identities and understand the interactions between the different Italic populations in Southern Italy.
Lastly, the value of the bibliography cannot be understated. Not only is it extensive, with almost 400 sources listed, but it collects most of the seminal works on South Italian pottery from the past few decades, acting as a steady guide in this ‘veritable jungle’.
