- chapter 52: The Etruscan painted pottery –
But there are also local products. As is known, the Genucilia plates were popular
for funerary offerings, in the votive deposits, in buildings related to worship and in the
sanctuaries of Latium and Etruria. To a Genucilia plate, with the inscription HRA in black
paint on the rim, found in the urban area of Caere (Vigna Parrocchiale), Del Chiaro has
attributed a votive function. A number of other Genucilia plates from Caere, painted with
the same inscription, allowed M. Cristofani to analyze the issue more thoroughly and to
interpret the inscription as an abbreviation of the Greek theonym “HRAKLES,” a deity
who, at Caere, had a specifi c cult connected with the water. The inscription would be
contrary to Hera, according to G. Colonna, followed by M. D. Gentili. The use of the Greek
language would be due to Greek-speaking offi cials working in the cult of the goddess.
THE SILVERED POTTERY^65The silvered pottery, the yellow slip pottery, the polychrome pottery (Fig. 52.17) and
the unglazed relief pottery were created to mimic metal prototypes. Volsinian, Faliscan
and Volterran productions have been identifi ed. Noteworthy are their contacts with
Apulia and Macedonia: for example, the oinochoe shape VI is borrowed from Macedonian
specimens (from Stauropolis, Derveni, Arzos and Vergina). In the repertoire there are
many scenes of Amazons, derived from the decoration of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus,
revised and distributed through sketches in the Etruscan and Italiote areas. There are also
the labors of Herakles, as in Greece and in Magna Graecia on mirrors and helmets.^66
THE BLACK GLAZE WARE WITH
OVERPAINTED DECORATION^67The second half of the fourth century bc sees the spread of the black glaze ware with over-
painted decoration, that initially mimics the Attic red-fi gured ware. During the fourth
century bc, the presence of Greek metics (probably Greeks, also Campanians) is attested by the
Figure 52.17 Ceramica Argentata (silvered ceramic) amphora, Orvieto, fourth century bc.
University of Pennsylvania Museum MS 2511, image no. 151607. Turfa 2005: no. 317.