Riflessi della pittura pergamena in Etruria. "Il maestro del ratto di Proserpina"

Adriano Maggiani,

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Abstract

The archaeological Museum of Livorno acquired in 1863 five etruscan ash urn chests and two lids, said to have been found at Vada, port of Volterra in antiquity. One of them, of archaic age, has quite recently been proved coming from the excavations Attilio Norchi made in 1860 in the “Portone” necropolis, at Volterra itself; therefore the alleged provenance of the other urns is also very doubtful. These urns (now in the reserves of Fattori-Museum at Livorno) are of very different quality. One of them however, decorated on three sides, proves to be a relevant work of art. The subject of the front decoration has suggested to name its author “Master of the rape of Proserpina”. Composition, iconography and style seem to have been borrowed from the art of Near East in hellenistic times, particularly of Pergamon and Rhodes. The model may have been a painting in the typical baroque-style like that of the Great Altar, but somewhat earlier. The publication of the Livorno urns gives the opportunity of studying the architectural ornaments (columns and pillars) and the types of vases that frequently are carved on the flanks of the volterran urns.