Etruscan vase painting

An imitative adoption of the red-figure technique only developed in Etruria around 490 BC, nearly half a century after that style had been invented in Greece.

Vases were not just produced for the local market, but also sold to Malta, Carthage, Rome and the Ligurian coast.

The somewhat older Sokra Group had a preference for cups with interior images from Greek mythology, sometimes also with Etruscan motifs.

The Phantom Group mostly painted cloaked figures in combination with compositions of plant or palmette patterns.

[2] Only towards the end of the 5th century was the true red-figure technique, with the figures as reserved areas remaining in the actual clay colour, introduced to Etruria.

The original workshops were probably founded by Attic masters, but the early vessels also already display a South Italian influence.

Chiusi became especially important through the Tondo Group, which produced drinking cups with mostly dionysiac motifs on the inside.

In the second half of the 4th century BC, mythological themes disappeared from the repertoire of Etruscan vase painters.

Larger compositions now only occurred in exceptional cases, such as the amazonomachy on a krater by the Hague Funnel Group Painter.

The Caere workshops were probably founded by masters from Falerii; they lacked a separate tradition but became the main centre of red-figure vase production in Etruria.