Tyrrhenian amphora

It often contains mythological scenes, but the first erotic motifs in Attic vase painting also occur here.

The animal friezes and use of colour resemble Corinthian vase painting.

It is likely that the Attic vase painters copied Corinthian examples, so as to improve their products’ attractivity on the Etruscan markets.

Thus, the Athenian producers entered direct competition with the then market leader, Corinth, by producing features popular in Etruria, such as neck amphorae and colourful decoration.

In his 1983 paper '’On the Dating of the Tyrrhenian Group’’,[1] the British archaeologist Tom Carpenter suggested, on the basis of iconographic and epigraphic considerations, that the vases were produced later than normally assumed, namely between 550 and 530 BC.

Tyrrhenian amphora by the Fallow Deer Painter of the Tyrrhenian Group. Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen
Tyrrhenian amphora by the Prometheus Painter . Front: amazonomachy – Herakles combats Andromache , Telamon fights Anipe and Iphis (Herakles’ wife) fights Panariste . Unknown origin, circa 550 BC. Athens : National Museum .