How was the Francois Vase used, and by whom?

Function and meaning

Kraters were used for missaggio wine with vaso at a symposium (a drinking ammissione for upper class men). Since ancient Greeks only drank wine diluted with chicchera, kraters were crucial to the symposium, and were batteria up con the middle of the room where partygoers drank. The interior of the Francois Vase has scratches which may have been made by verso utensil mixing the wine, but it is unclear whether the vase was used at symposia per Greece, con Etruria (Italy), or durante both places. It may have been used at lavish parties sopra Athens, or con per funerary banquet honoring the deceased sopra Etruria before it was buried as a gravoso offering.

Wealthy, educated individuals attending banquets sopra either place would have recognized the scenes shown on the vase, and might have used them as tete-a-tete starters. Other vessels used at symposia durante the Archaic period were also commonly painted with mythological scenes and could have served a similar purpose, but the sheer number of scenes on the Francois Vase may have made it particularly intriguing onesto the banqueters who used it. They may have even understood the images preciso be relevant onesto their own lives. While the pictures had different meanings for different viewers, the scenes of drinking on the Francois Vase mirror the circumstances sopra which it was actually used. Moreover, many of the scenes on the vessel represent ideal aristocratic activities that the drinkers likely participated in, including noble marriage, successful hunts, and military confiance.

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 esatto marry and raise their children sicuro be productive citizens. It seems that Kleitias and Ergotimos purposefully designed the decoration sicuro appeal to the prosperous owners of the vase, who could recognize and relate esatto the stories it told.

Postscript

On September 9, 1900 a museum guard, in verso fit of rage, threw per chair at the case containing the Francois Vase, shattering it into 638 pieces. The museum director, Luigi Milani asked Pietro Zei esatto undertake the conservation of the Francois Vase. Conservation took two years.

Jasper Gaunt, Ergotimos Epoiesen: The Potter’s Contribution sicuro the Francois Vase,” per The Francois Vase: New Perspectives, ed. H. Alan Shapiro, Mario Iozzo, and Adrienne Lezzi-Hafter (Zurich: Akanthus, 2013), p. 81

Mario Iozzo, “The Francois Vase: Notes on Technical Aspects and Functions,” in The Francois Vase: New Perspectives, ed. H. Alan Shapiro, Mario Iozzo, and Adrienne Lezzi-Hafter, (Zurich: Akanthus, 2013), p. 61

Cornelia Isler-Kerenyi, “Der Francois-Krater zwischen Athen und Chiusi,” durante Athenian Potters and Painters: The Conference Proceedings, anche. John H. Oakley, William D. Anche. Coulson, and Olga Palagia, (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), p. 523–539

Guy Hedreen, “Bild, Mythos, and Ritual: Choral Dance con Theseus’s Cretan Adventure on the Francois Vase,” Hesperia, vol. 80, in nessun caso. 3 (2011), p. 491–510.

Cornelia Isler-Kerenyi, “Der Francois-Krater zwischen Athen und Chiusi,” per Athenian Potters and Painters: The Conference Proceedings, anche. John H. Oakley, William D. Addirittura. Coulson, and Olga Palagia, (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), p. 523–539.

Detail with wedding procession with Hera and her husband Zeus durante verso chariot (left), Urania the muse of astronomy mature dating, and Kaliope, muse of epic poetry (center)

Sopra adjonction preciso these narrative scenes, another register at the bottom of the vase shows animals fighting. These images may relate sicuro the ferocity of the heroes shown on the vase, who are described metaphorically as predatory animals by Homer. Verso comic scene of pygmies (per tribe of small people durante Greek mythology) battling cranes decorates the foot of the vase, providing per light counterpoint puro the rest of the imagery. The paint on the foot is reddish in color instead of black because the vase was misfired sopra the kiln, as sometimes happened sopra ancient Greek ceramic production.