Pelike, Apulia 340-310 B.C.

Pelike with wedding scene. Magna Graecia, Apulia, 340-310 BC.
Ceramics.
From the house of William Douglas Hamilton 1731-1803, Stanley House, Chelsea, London. Nicky Haslam, London, 2000. Art Market, UK 2021.
Author: close to the Painter of the Underworld.
Thermoluminescence test attached.
Conservation: repaired from original fragments. Good general condition.
Measurements: 58 x 29 x 29 cm.

A masterpiece of Apulian ceramics, this splendid large pelike represents a richly ornamented nuptial scene, an outstanding example of the iconographic evolution of red-figure ceramics in Magna Grecia. In the center of the composition, the bride appears seated on a cross-legged stool, richly attired and bejeweled, holding a mirror before her in a gesture of introspection or coquetry. Around her, women carry chests and lekythoi (perfume vessels), and a winged figure, a Nike, goddess of victory, flies over the scene as an omen of marital prosperity.

The decorative repertoire includes floral and vegetal elements of great technical virtuosity: stylized palmettes, volutes and meandering fretwork, as well as geometric friezes and ornamental bands on the neck and belly. The combination of these forms, together with the subtle use of pictorial relief, suggests an idealized and ceremonial environment, typical of the imagery of the female elite in Apulia in the 4th century BC.

The style of the painting - for the proportion of the figures, the taste for ornamental details, the compositional rhythm and the way of modeling the bodies - allows us to place the piece within the circle of the so-called Painter of the Underworld, one of the main ceramographers of Apulia, active around 330 BC, known for his compositional complexity and the narrative delicacy of his scenes. This author, whose works are preserved in major European museums (such as the Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich), is famous for his treatment of funerary and mythical themes, but also for nuptial scenes of great beauty such as the one presented here.

The pelike, a variant of the wide-bottomed amphora, was used both to contain liquids and for ritual or funerary use. In this case, due to the nature of the scene and the sophistication of the drawing, it is likely that the piece was produced for a context of prestige, with commemorative or symbolic purposes.

The red-figure technique - developed in Athens around 530 BC and later adopted by the colonies of southern Italy - allowed for greater expressive freedom, facilitating anatomical modeling, the depiction of clothing and human gestures with a precision and sensitivity that this specimen embodies to perfection.