Starting in the 540s b.c. the production of Etruscan black-figure vases continued for a period of about 100 years. Its first major production centre was Vulci. Then came Cerveteri, where two important workshops are localised: the la Tolfa Group in the sixth century and the Lotus-Bud Group in the early-fifth century. In Orvieto (the Orvieto Group) and Chiusi (the Jerusalem Painter, and probably the workshop in which the Painters of Munich 883, Munich 892 and Vatican 265 were active) the production starts at the end of the sixth or the beginning of the fifth century.
This very welcome CVA volume presents the Etruscan black-figure pottery in the Antikensammlungen in Munich. The vast majority of the vases come from nineteenth-century excavations in Vulci and were bought by the Bavarian king Ludwig I from the collection of the Candelori brothers. As a result, the Munich collection presents a fairly representative overview of painters and workshops from Vulci, whereas work from outside Vulci is hardly represented with the exception of a few pieces from the Groups of Munich 883 and 892, and a fragmentary Caeretan hydria, the latter being acquired from a Munich private collection.
The material is presented in seven sections: the Ivy Leaf Group, the Pontic Workshop, the Group of Louvre CA 1870 and the Painter of Tarquinia RC 7946, the Micali Painter, the Circle of the Micali Painter, Late Black-Figure Vase-Painters, and finally, Caeretan Hydria. Each section starts with a concise introduction discussing style characteristics, date and relevant literature of each group/workshop. The vases within each section are ordered according to shape, rather than chronologically. For each entry, O.-T. begins with the provenance (if known), the dimensions, a complete bibliography, description of condition, shape and decoration, date and attribution, followed by a commentary on painter, shape, decoration and iconography. The seven sections are followed by an attachment, describing 42 vases that were lost, severely burnt or nearly completely destroyed during WWII. Next are eight indexes, fourteen plates with profile drawings and two plates with old black-and-white images of the lost vases. Another 87 plates with colour photos complete the volume.
During the preparations for this CVA volume all vases were cleaned and restored. Some vases that were thought to be lost were rediscovered in the process, a number of fragments belonging to already known vases were found and reunited, and 70 new inventory numbers could be given to ‘new’ vases and fragments that are published here for the first time.
The first section on the Ivy Leaf Group (pls 1–4) presents no new material. One amphora and a kyathos by the Ivy Leaf Painter, and the name vase of the Painter of Munich 833, whom some scholars have identified as a second painter in this workshop, have been lost and are discussed in the attachment (nos 1–2, 26).
In the next section, on the Pontic Workshop (pls 5–23.1), well-known vases are presented, such as the name vases of the assumed founder of the workshop, the Paris Painter (named after the first Etruscan representation of the Judgement of Paris), and of his first pupil, the Amphiaraos Painter. Amongst the new material are two amphora fragments attributed to the Heidelberger Siren Painter, a painter who was identified for the first time in 2005 by S. Knippschild (pl. 12.3), two amphora fragments attributed to the Pontic Workshop (pl. 12.4–5), a kyathos fragment Near the Paris Painter (pl. 16.5) and a plate fragment of the Amphiaraos Painter (pl. 23.1). One may add a parallel to the chalices NI 8337 and 8338 (pl. 17.7–8): New York, Fordham University 7.024 (B. Cavaliere and J. Udell [edd.], Ancient Mediterranean Art. The William D. and Jane Walsh Collection at Fordham University [2012], p. 337). Seven pieces are discussed in the attachment with lost vases (nos 16, 18, 21, 37–40).
The three vases presented in the following section (pl. 23.2–7) have for a long time been linked to the Ivy Leaf Group or the Pontic Workshop. However, in 1995, in CVA 24 of the Louvre, F. Gaultier attributed these three to the Painter of Tarquinia RC 7946, which she included in her Group of Louvre CA 1870. O.-T. follows her in this.
The next two sections contain the work of the Micali Painter (pls 24–46) and his Circle (pls 47–64). No less than 38 vases and fragments are published here for the first time (admittedly, these include the ten that have already been attributed and listed without inventory number by N.J. Spivey in The Micali Painter and his Followers [1987]). Three of these are attributed to the Painter of Florence 80675 (pls 50.4–5, 51.1–6) and one to Near the Group of the Leiden Kyathos (pl. 58.1–3). An extra parallel for the decoration of neck and black lower body of SH 851 (pl. 28.1–3) is an amphora recently on the art market (Christie's New York, 4 June 2015, lot 78). Ten pieces belonging to this section are found in the attachment (nos 3–4, 6–9, 19, 22, 27, 36).
The next section discusses the late black-figure vases (pls 64.3–86), which includes material originating from outside Vulci: three already published and four ‘new’ vases from the Group of Munich 892, and two published and one ‘new’ piece by the Group of Munich 883 (pls 66–8). Also worth mentioning is an unattributed kylix fragment, a fairly rare shape in Etruscan late black-figure. The attachment publishes six attributed pieces from this section (nos 10–13, 34–5).
Finally, an already well published fragmentary Caeretan hydria by the Eagle Painter, is presented in the last section. The Munich fragments join fragments in the Louvre, as shown on photomontages in J.M. Hemelrijk, More about Caeretan Hydriae (2009), pls 21a and 23a.
This formidable volume has been produced according to the high standard which we have become used to with German CVAs. One small point of criticism though: it would have been easier for the user if the vases published in the attachment had been included in the index of painters/workshops, especially since the attachment itself is ordered according to shape, rather than following the workshop order of the main body of the book. Still, the texts are expertly written, the comments to-the-point and the photographs excellent. This book will be a great reference source for anyone studying Etruscan black-figure pottery.
