Ancient greek vase/ personal analysis from museum visit - Essay Example

Therefore, given the artistic context, I would like to analyze the functionality of the Terracotta volute-krater based on close observations of other Apulian vases from the same period. In particular, through my detailed observation of different narrative registers in the work, I hope to show how its decoration correlates with its functionality. Even if the vessel’s destination can be somewhat derived from its description as a “pot for mixing water and wine”, I would like to emphasize the fact that the main function of such a krater was different than a simple pot for beverages at a party.

On the contrary, its function is mainly associated with the funerary cult and it was largely destined to be a grave good. In our particular case, the Terracotta volute-krater has a grand, almost monumental shape and for this matter, it could have been used to mark a grave. However, I believe that the best way to reflect the vessel’s function as a funerary cult object is not the physical shape and size, but the specific images depicted on it. I would like to start with the white figures in the naiskos (a funerary architectural monument like a small temple): first of all, they are both painted white, which means they probably represent statues.

On one side we notice the statues of a man and a young man, who could most likely represent the deceased, while on reverse, the young man is alone, sitting “in reserve”. The two characters are depicted with specific objects which indicate their age and their status: the man has a staff, which demonstrates his old age and the young man is represented with several types of weapons and war equipment, which reflects his status as a young warrior. The man and the young warrior are caught in a still position with grave expressions, as if this particular moment would depict a father saying goodbye to his deceased son, while the young man leaves the mortal world and transcends into the immortal world.

This particular interpretation can also be supported by the fact that the man and the young warrior are holding each other’s hands as part of a final goodbye which the father has to perform in order to complete his son’s rite of passage to the other world. However, one of the elements with a very strong physical presence on the vessel is the naiskos – an architectural element which represents the basis on which the sepulchral meaning of the vessel itself can be further developed. The painter attempts to present the naiskos in a three-dimensional perspective, along with specific architectural details such as the columns, base and the ornaments.

Given the fact that the naiskos was a common architectural element in cemeteries at that time, the painter’s effort to represent it in detail can be interpreted as an effort to anchor the whole motif of the painting in a real life-like setting, while leaving room for mystical interpretations as well. This is why the naiskos could go beyond its basic understanding as an architectural element and represent a symbolic portal towards afterlife, which the young warrior has to pass in order to get to the other side, as depicted on the reverse of the vessel, where he is represented alone, in reserved anticipation of his fate.

The stone-like white color, in which the figures of the two men in the naiskos are painted, greatly contrasts with the red color