- chapter 52: The Etruscan painted pottery –
Faliscan workshops in the second half of the fourth century bc made a standardized
production of ordinary quality, with erotic or Dionisiac themes (Faliscan Figured Group,
340–280 bc), the Full Sakkos Group,^59 so-called by the distinctive headgear worn by
the women on the vessels, and the Barbarano Group (Fig. 52.13), consisting of oinochoai
decorated with a female head in profi le.
The Fluid Group is late Faliscan, named for the appearance of diluted paint on most
vases. The style is smooth, rounded, easy and fl uid. The maeander has the “soft” form,
with no relief line. The vases are stamnoi, amphorae, kalyx kraters, oinochoai, skyphoi etc.
The themes are Nikai, Dionysos, Maenads and Satyrs. It is possible to detect a Caeretan
fi gured production (340–300/280 bc?) dependent on the Faliscan. In the Caeretan
Figured Group,^60 the oldest painter and one of the most prolifi c, the Villa Giulia Caeretan
Painter,^61 is probably still active at Falerii (Falisco-Caeretan style), and later the production
moved to Caere (Caeretan early style, medium and recent). The Torcop Group^62 of the
second half of the fourth-early third century bc is named after vases in the museums of
Toronto and Copenhagen. The vases are oinochoai decorated with female profi les (two
confronted on the body and one on the neck); concerning the location of production Del
Chiaro formulated the hypothesis of Caere. The production period is placed between the
second half of the fourth and early third century bc. The area of diffusion of the Torcop
Group, much larger than that of Caeretan fi gured vases (Fig. 52.14), includes coastal
Etruria and the Faliscan and Latin areas.
The Genucilia plates:^63 still fundamental here is the study of Del Chiaro.^64 The
eponymous plate in Providence (US), perhaps purchased at Falerii veteres, shows the name
Poplia Genucilia pictured below the foot. The fi rst name is typical of the Faliscan area,
not Latin, and the gentilicium is attested in the nearby countryside of the Ager Capenate at
Lucus Feroniae. Production begins at Falerii veteres (350–325 bc) and then continues in
Caere. The plates are decorated with a female head (Fig. 52.15) (in the Faliscan and in the
Caeretan productions) or with a star (in the Caeretan production) (Fig. 52.16).
Figure 52.13 Faliscan beaked jug, Red Figure, late fourth-early third century bc. University of
Pennsylvania Museum L-64-218, image no. 151404. Turfa 2005: no. 322.