Terracotta volute- krater

This magnificent volute-krater is a major loan from the Republic of Italy and comes from the Archaeological Museum of Ferrara (inv. 2897). It was discovered in tomb 128 at Spina (necropolis of Valle Trebba), an Etruscan city of the Po Valley, located on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Made in one of the most important Athenian workshops, this vase was exported to Etruria like thousands of other Attic vases. The Etruscans adapted a Greek custom called symposion―communal wine-drinking ceremony― and related vessels for their own ritual banquets, such as kraters, used as containers to mix wine and water. Unlike the Athenians, Etruscan elite members were buried with symposion vessel-sets, as reflected by the material found in tomb 128, together with the volute-krater.


The scene represents a divine couple enthroned within a building, which is defined by two columns. The goddess has a lion perched on her arm, the male god wears a crown of snakes. Both are holding a phiale (bowl) and pour a liquid offering (libation). An elderly priestess is advancing towards the altar placed in front of them. On her head, she is carrying a vailed basket (liknon), a liturgical object used in mystery cults. Two women follow her with flute and tambourine, as in a solemn and musical procession. The rest of the scene, painted all around the vase's body, shows a crowd of women, men, youths and children dancing to the sound of flutes, cymbals and tambourines. Their gestures and attitude are ecstatic; some of them have their mouth open. They are worshippers performing for the two divinities in a cultic setting. This complex scene has been much discussed and the key to its meaning revolves around the identification of the divine couple being worshipped. The latest interpretation, which considers the vase's Etruscan funerary context, associates the scene with a cult dedicated to a local infernal god, similar to the Greek Hades, and his spouse. The dionysiac aspect of the scene - conveyed by the ecstatic (and perhaps intoxicated) atmosphere, the mystery cult, the music and the krater’s shape itself (connected with wine) - reflects the Etruscan vision of the afterlife, a permanent joyful revelry.