How was the Francois Vase used, and by whom?
Function and meaning
Kraters were used for missaggio wine with ciotola at verso symposium (verso drinking festa for upper class men). Since ancient Greeks only drank wine diluted with tazza, kraters were crucial puro the symposium, and were arnesi up sopra the middle of the room where partygoers drank. The interior of the Francois Vase has scratches which may have been made by per utensil missaggio the wine, but it is unclear whether the vase was used at symposia con Greece, durante Etruria (Italy), or mediante both places. It may have been used at lavish parties mediante Athens, or per a funerary banquet honoring the deceased sopra Etruria before it was buried as per pesante offering.
Wealthy, educated individuals attending banquets sopra either place would have recognized the scenes shown on the vase, and might have used them as conversation starters. Other vessels used at symposia per the Archaic period were also commonly painted with mythological scenes and could have served per similar purpose, but the sheer number of scenes on the Francois Vase may have made it particularly intriguing puro the banqueters who used it. They may have even understood the images preciso be relevant sicuro their own lives. While the pictures had different meanings for different viewers, the scenes of drinking on the Francois Vase mirror the circumstances mediante which it was actually used. Moreover, many of the scenes on the vessel represent ideal aristocratic activities that the drinkers likely participated con, including noble marriage, successful hunts, and military assurance.
Most Greek men spent some of their lives serving their cities at war, defeating enemies much like the heroes painted on this vase. Like Peleus, Greek men were expected puro marry and raise their children esatto be productive citizens. It seems that Kleitias and Ergotimos purposefully designed the decoration onesto appeal esatto the prosperous owners of the vase, who could recognize and relate puro the stories it told.
Postscript
On September 9, 1900 per museum guard, mediante https://datingranking.net/it/together2night-review/ verso fit of rage, threw verso chair at the case containing the Francois Vase, shattering it into 638 pieces. The museum director, Luigi Milani asked Pietro Zei to undertake the conservation of the Francois Vase. Conservation took two years.
Jasper Gaunt, Ergotimos Epoiesen: The Potter’s Contribution preciso the Francois Vase,” mediante The Francois Vase: New Perspectives, addirittura. H. Alan Shapiro, Mario Iozzo, and Adrienne Lezzi-Hafter (Zurich: Akanthus, 2013), p. 81
Mario Iozzo, “The Francois Vase: Taccuino on Technical Aspects and Functions,” in The Francois Vase: New Perspectives, addirittura. H. Alan Shapiro, Mario Iozzo, and Adrienne Lezzi-Hafter, (Zurich: Akanthus, 2013), p. 61
Cornelia Isler-Kerenyi, “Der Francois-Krater zwischen Athen und Chiusi,” mediante Athenian Potters and Painters: The Conference Proceedings, e. John H. Oakley, William D. E. Coulson, and Olga Palagia, (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), p. 523–539
Guy Hedreen, “Bild, Mythos, and Ritual: Choral Dance per Theseus’s Cretan Adventure on the Francois Vase,” Hesperia, vol. 80, mai. 3 (2011), p. 491–510.
Cornelia Isler-Kerenyi, “Der Francois-Krater zwischen Athen und Chiusi,” mediante Athenian Potters and Painters: The Conference Proceedings, e. John H. Oakley, William D. Anche. Coulson, and Olga Palagia, (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), p. 523–539.
Detail with wedding procession with Hera and her husband Zeus sopra verso chariot (left), Urania the muse of astronomy, and Kaliope, muse of epic poetry (center)
Per addenda to these narrative scenes, another register at the bottom of the vase shows animals fighting. These images may relate to the ferocity of the heroes shown on the vase, who are described metaphorically as predatory animals by Homer. A comic scene of pygmies (verso tribe of small people durante Greek mythology) battling cranes decorates the foot of the vase, providing a light counterpoint sicuro the rest of the imagery. The paint on the foot is reddish durante color instead of black because the vase was misfired durante the kiln, as sometimes happened mediante ancient Greek ceramic production.
