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By Geographical Region & Time Period

• 
  Centuripe vase, 3rd–2nd century b.c.
  Greek, Sicilian, Centuripe
  Terracotta

  H. 15 5/8 in. (37.7 cm)
  Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1953 (53.11.5)

• 
  Bell-krater (mixing bowl), ca. 350–325 b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Archidamos subgroup of the Chevron Group
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  H. 8 7/8 in. (22.53 cm)
  Purchase by subscription, 1896 (96.18.22)
  
  Obverse: seated woman with a phiale and branch
  Reverse: head of a woman

• 
  Column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), ca. 350–320 b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Group of Boston 00.348
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  H. 20 1/4 in. (51.51 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1950 (50.11.4)
  
  Obverse: artist painting a marble statue of Herakles
  Reverse: Athena surrounded by other deities

• 
  Pelike (jar), ca. 330–310 b.c.; red-figure
  Close in style to the Underworld Painter
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  H. 22 1/2 in. (57.2 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1906 (06.1021.228)
  
  Obverse: naiskos (shrine) with woman and attendant between youth and woman
  Reverse: woman, youth, and Eros

• 
  Volute-krater (vase for mixing wine and water), ca. 320–310 b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Capodimonte Painter
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  H. without handles 36 1/16 in. (91.59 cm)
  Fletcher Fund, 1956 (56.171.63)
  
  On the body, obverse: assembly of gods above Amazonomachy
  Reverse: youth in niaskos (shrine) between youths and women
  On the neck, obverse: woman with torches leading Nike in chariot
  On the handles: heads of Io and young Pans

• 
  Volute-krater (mixing bowl), ca. 330–310 b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Baltimore Painter
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  H. with handles 30 5/16 in. (77 cm), H. to rim 26 3/4 in. (68 cm)
  Purchase, Mrs. James J. Rorimer Gift, 1969 (69.11.7)
  
  On the body, obverse: Judgment of Paris
  On the body, obverse, above: assembly of gods
  On the body, obverse, below: Pan, Athena between Trojans
  Reverse: woman in naiskos (shrine), between youths and women
  On the neck, obverse: woman's head
  On the handles, obverse and reverse: women's heads

• 
  Kantharos (drinking cup with high handles), ca. 325–300 b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Painter of Bari 5981
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  H. with handles 11 in. (27.9 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1906 (06.1021.233)
  
  Obverse: woman with kalathos (wool basket)
  Reverse: head of a woman

• 
  Oinochoe (jug), ca. 325–300 b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Stuttgart Group
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta

  H. 16 3/4 in. (42.6 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1906 (06.1021.211)

• 
  Oinochoe (jug), ca. 325–300 b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Stuttgart Group
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta

  H. 17 in. (43.2 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1906 (06.1021.209)

• 
  Funerary relief, ca. 325–300 b.c.
  Greek, South Italian, Tarentine
  Limestone

  H. 23 1/16 in. (58.5 cm), W. as preserved 21 1/8 in. (53.6 cm)
  Fletcher Fund, 1929 (29.54)

• 
  Loutrophoros (ceremonial vase for water), third quarter of 4th century b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Metope Painter
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  Purchase, The Bernard and Audrey Aronson Charitable Trust Gift, in memory of her beloved husband, Bernard Aronson, 1995 (1995.45.1)
  
  On the body, obverse: woman with attendant in naiskos (shrine) flanked by youth and women
  Reverse: woman in naiskos flanked by youths and women
  On the shoulder, obverse: Eros with alabastron and mirror within foliage
  Reverse: head of a woman within foliage

• 
  Loutrophoros (ceremonial vase for water), third quarter of 4th century b.c.; red-figure
  Attributed to the Metope Painter
  Greek, South Italian, Apulian
  Terracotta
  

  Purchase, The Bernard and Audrey Aronson Charitable Trust Gift, in memory of her beloved husband, Bernard Aronson, 1995 (1995.45.2)
  
  On the body, obverse: woman with attendant in naiskos (shrine) flanked by youths and women
  Reverse: woman in naiskos flanked by youths and women
  On the shoulder, obverse: head of a woman wearing a Phrygian cap within foliage Reverse: head of a woman within foliage

• 
  Fragment of a limestone relief with enthroned couple, Late Classical or Hellenistic, 4th–3rd century b.c.
  Greek, South Italian, Tarentine
  Limestone
  

  13 x 14 1/4 x 3 3/4 in. (33 x 36.2 x 9.5 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1996 (1996.151.1)

  Fragment of a limestone relief with standing figure, Late Classical or Hellenistic, 4th–3rd century b.c.
  Greek, South Italian, Tarentine
  Limestone
  

  10 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 3 3/8 in. (26.7 x 16.5 x 8.6 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1996 (1996.151.2)

  Fragment of a limestone relief with two standing figures, Late Classical or Hellenistic, 4th–3rd century b.c.
  Greek, South Italian, Tarentine
  Limestone
  

  13 x 17 3/4 x 3 1/4 in. (33 x 45.1 x 8.3 cm)
  Purchase, Mrs. Sandy Brue Gift, 1996 (1996.305)

• 
  Lekanis (dish) with lid and finial, second half of 3rd century b.c.
  Greek, Sicilian, Centuripe
  Terracotta

  24 1/4 x 24 1/2 in. (61.6 x 62.2 cm)
  Fletcher Fund, 1930 (30.11.4a–c)

• 
  Head of a woman, 3rd–2nd century b.c.
  Greek, South Italian, Tarentine
  Terracotta

  H. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1923 (23.160.95)

Most extant South Italian vases have been discovered in funerary contexts, and a significant number of these vases were likely produced solely as grave goods. This function is demonstrated by the vases of various shapes and sizes that are open at the bottom, rendering them useless for the living (06.1021.209; 06.1021.211). Often the vases with open bottoms are monumentalized shapes, particularly volute-kraters, amphorae, and loutrophoroi, which began to be produced in the second quarter of the fourth century B.C. The perforation at the bottom prevented damage during firing and also allowed them to serve as grave markers. Liquid libations offered to the dead were poured through the containers into the soil containing the deceased's remains. Evidence for this practice exists in the cemeteries of Tarentum (modern Taranto), the only significant Greek colony in the region of Apulia (modern Puglia).

Most surviving examples of these monumental vases are not found in Greek settlements, but in chamber tombs of their Italic neighbors in northern Apulia. In fact, the high demand for large-scale vases among the native peoples of the region seems to have spurred Tarentine émigrés to establish vase painting workshops by the mid-fourth century B.C. at Italic sites such as Ruvo, Canosa, and Ceglie del Campo.

The imagery painted on these vases, rather than their physical structure, best reflects their intended sepulchral function. The most common scenes of daily life on South Italian vases are depictions of funerary monuments, usually flanked by women and nude youths bearing a variety of offerings to the grave site such as fillets, boxes, perfume vessels (alabastra), libation bowls (phialai), fans, bunches of grapes, and rosette chains (69.11.7). When the funerary monument includes a representation of the deceased, there is not necessarily a strict correlation between the types of offerings and the gender of the commemorated individual(s). For instance, mirrors, traditionally considered a female grave good in excavation contexts, are brought to monuments depicting individuals of both genders.

The preferred type of funerary monument painted on vases varies from region to region within southern Italy. On rare occasions, the funerary monument may consist of a statue, presumably of the deceased, standing on a simple base (06.1021.230). Within Campania, the grave monument of choice on vases is a simple stone slab (stele) on a stepped base. In Apulia, vases are decorated with memorials in the form of a small templelike shrine called a naiskos. The naiskoi usually contain within them one (56.171.63) or more figures (06.1021.228), understood as sculptural depictions of the deceased and their companions. The figures and their architectural setting are usually painted in added white, presumably to identify the material as stone. Added white to represent a statue may also be seen on an Apulian column-krater where an artist applied colored pigment to a marble statue of Herakles (50.11.4). Furthermore, painting figures within naiskoi in added white differentiates them from the living figures around the monument who are rendered in red-figure. There are exceptions to this practice—red-figure figures within naiskoi may represent terracotta statuary. As South Italy lacks indigenous marble sources, the Greek colonists became highly skilled coroplasts, able to render even lifesized figures in clay (23.160.95).

By the mid-fourth century B.C., monumental Apulian vases typically presented a naiskos on one side of the vase and a stele, similar to those on Campanian vases, on the other. It was also popular to pair a naiskos scene with a complex, multifigured mythological scene, many of which were inspired by tragic and epic subjects (56.171.63). Around 330 B.C., a strong Apulianizing influence became evident in Campanian and Paestan vase painting, and naiskos scenes began appearing on Campanian vases (06.1021.227). The spread of Apulian iconography may be connected to the military activity of Alexander the Molossian, uncle of Alexander the Great and king of Epirus, who was summoned by the city of Tarentum to lead the Italiote League in efforts to reconquer former Greek colonies in Lucania and Campania.

In many naiskoi, vase painters attempted to render the architectural elements in three-dimensional perspective, and archaeological evidence suggests that such monuments existed in the cemeteries of Tarentum, the last of which stood until the late nineteenth century. The surviving evidence is fragmentary, as modern Taranto covers much of the ancient burial grounds, but architectural elements and sculptures of local limestone are known (1996.151.1; 1996.151.2; 1996.305). The dating of these objects is controversial; some scholars place them as early as 330 B.C., while others date them all during the second century B.C. Both hypotheses postdate most, if not all, of their counterparts on vases. On a fragmentary piece in the Museum's collection (29.54), which decorated either the base or back wall of a funerary monument, a pilos helmet, sword, cloak, and cuirass are suspended on the background. Similar objects hang within the painted naiskoi (1995.45.1). Vases that show naiskoi with architectural sculpture, such as patterned bases (1995.45.1; 69.11.7; 06.1021.228) and figured metopes (1995.45.1; 1995.45.2), have parallels in the remains of limestone monuments.

Above the funerary monuments on monumental vases there is frequently an isolated head, painted on the neck or shoulder. The heads may rise from a bell-flower or acanthus leaves and are set within a lush surround of flowering vines or palmettes (1995.45.2; 1995.45.1 [reverse]). Heads within foliage appear with the earliest funerary scenes on South Italian vases, beginning in the second quarter of the fourth century B.C. Typically the heads are female, but heads of youths and satyrs, as well as those with attributes such as wings, a Phrygian cap, a polos crown, or a nimbus, also appear. Identification of these heads has proven difficult, as there is only one known example, now in the British Museum, whose name is inscribed (called "Aura"—"Breeze"). No surviving literary works from ancient southern Italy illuminate their identity or their function on the vases. The female heads are drawn in the same manner as their full-length counterparts, both mortal and divine, and are usually shown wearing a patterned headdress, a radiate crown, earrings, and a necklace. Even when the heads are bestowed with attributes, their identity is indeterminate, allowing a variety of possible interpretations. More narrowly defining attributes are very rare and do little to identify the attribute-less majority. The isolated head became very popular as primary decoration on vases, particularly those of small scale, and by 340 B.C., it was the single most common motif in South Italian vase painting (96.18.22; 06.1021.233). The relation of these heads, set in rich vegetation, to the grave monuments below them suggests they are strongly connected to fourth-century B.C. concepts of a hereafter in southern Italy and Sicily.

Although the production of South Italian red-figure vases ceased around 300 B.C., making vases purely for funerary use continued, most notably at Centuripe, a town in eastern Sicily near Mount Etna. The numerous polychrome terracotta figurines and vases of the third century B.C. were decorated with tempera colors after firing. They were further elaborated with complex vegetal and architecturally inspired relief elements. One of the most common shapes, a footed dish called a lekanis (30.11.4a–c), was often constructed of independent sections (foot, bowl, lid, lid knob, and finial), resulting in few complete pieces today. On some pieces, such as the lebes in the Museum's collection (53.11.5), the lid was made in one piece with the body of the vase, so that it could not function as a container. The construction and fugitive decoration of Centuripe vases indicate their intended function as grave goods. The painted imagery relates to weddings or the Dionysiac cult, whose mysteries enjoyed great popularity in southern Italy and Sicily, presumably due to the blissful afterlife promised to its initiates.

Citation Heuer, Keely. "Funerary Vases in Southern Italy and Sicily". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fune/hd_fune.htm (November 2010) Further Reading Carter, Joseph Coleman. The Sculpture of Taras. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1975. Mayo, Margaret Ellen, ed. The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1982. Pugliese Carratelli, Giovanni, ed. The Western Greeks. Milan: Bompiani, 1996. Trendall, Arthur Dale. Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1989. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions) The New Greek and Roman Galleries Other Online Features Greek Art from Prehistoric to Classical: A Resource for Educators

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Oliver, Andrew. "The Lycurgus Painter: An Apulian Artist of the Fourth Century B.C.." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 21, no. 1 (Summer, 1962). JSTOR | PDF