| Method | Copper engraving with hand colouring |
| Artist | Giovanni Battista Passeri |
| Published | Romae, MDCCLXVII. Ex Typographio Johannis Zempel. [1767] |
| Dimensions | Image 284 x 167 mm, Plate 295 x 178 mm, Sheet 393 x 250 mm |
| Notes |
A depiction of a red-figure vase, with two panels below featuring details of its decoration, Plate 83 from Volume 1 of Passeri's Picturae Etruscorum in Vasculis Nunc Primum in Unum Collectae. The vase is probably an amphoriskos, a miniature two-handled storage vessel often used for perfumed oils. Passeri's description of the vase's decoration is problematic. Owing to his desire to link the vase to rituals and institutions of Etruscan daily life, he identifies the two figures as a woman offering wine to the Lares Viales, and a young Etruscan male wearing the toga praetexta. In the case of the first scene, a ritual offering is a plausible suggestion, though the offering certainly would not involve the Lares Viales, minor (and strictly-Italian) deities thought to guard roadways, and whose shrines could often be found at crossroads. The second figure is most probably a youth wearing a travelling cloak, or an athlete wrapped in a heavy blanket. The toga praetexta, another element of Etruscan culture adopted by the Romans, was worn by freeborn Roman boys before their coming of age, after which time they would wear the toga virilis. Condition: Minor time toning to edges of sheet. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £80.00 |
| Stock ID | 39888 |