Function and meaning
Kraters were used for missaggio wine with ciotola at verso symposium (per drinking ricevimento for upper class men). Since ancient Greeks only drank wine diluted with scodella, kraters were crucial preciso the symposium, and were arnesi up per the middle of the room where partygoers drank. The interior of the Francois Vase has scratches which may have been made by per utensil mixage the wine, but it is unclear whether the vase was used at symposia con Greece, per Etruria (Italy), or con both places. It may have been used at lavish parties in Athens, or per a funerary banquet honoring the deceased per Etruria before it was buried as verso grave offering.
Wealthy, educated individuals attending banquets in either place would have recognized the scenes shown on the vase, and might have used them as dialogue starters. Other vessels used at symposia per the Archaic period were also commonly painted with mythological scenes and could have served verso similar purpose, but the sheer number of scenes on the Francois Vase may have made it particularly intriguing preciso the banqueters who used it. They may have even understood the images puro be relevant preciso their own lives. While the pictures had different meanings for different viewers, the scenes of drinking on the Francois Vase mirror the circumstances sopra which it was actually used. Moreover, many of the scenes on the vessel represent ideal aristocratic activities that the drinkers likely participated in, including noble marriage, successful hunts, and military annonce.
Most Greek men spent some of their lives serving their cities at war, defeating enemies much like the heroes painted on this vase. Like Peleus, Greek men were expected to profilo latinamericancupid marry and raise their children puro be productive citizens. It seems that Kleitias and Ergotimos purposefully designed the decoration to appeal preciso the prosperous owners of the vase, who could recognize and relate to the stories it told.
Postscript
On September 9, 1900 a museum guard, con per fit of rage, threw a chair at the case containing the Francois Vase, shattering it into 638 pieces. The museum director, Luigi Milani asked Pietro Zei onesto undertake the conservation of the Francois Vase. Conservation took two years.
Jasper Gaunt, Ergotimos Epoiesen: The Potter’s Contribution esatto the Francois Vase,” per The Francois Vase: New Perspectives, ancora. H. Alan Shapiro, Mario Iozzo, and Adrienne Lezzi-Hafter (Zurich: Akanthus, 2013), p. 81
Mario Iozzo, “The Francois Vase: Taccuino on Technical Aspects and Functions,” mediante The Francois Vase: New Perspectives, e. H. Alan Shapiro, Mario Iozzo, and Adrienne Lezzi-Hafter, (Zurich: Akanthus, 2013), p. 61
Cornelia Isler-Kerenyi, “Der Francois-Krater zwischen Athen und Chiusi,” in Athenian Potters and Painters: The Conference Proceedings, addirittura. John H. Oakley, William D. Ancora. Coulson, and Olga Palagia, (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), p. 523–539
Guy Hedreen, “Bild, Mythos, and Ritual: Choral Dance con Theseus’s Cretan Adventure on the Francois Vase,” Hesperia, vol. 80, no. 3 (2011), p. 491–510.
Cornelia Isler-Kerenyi, “Der Francois-Krater zwischen Athen und Chiusi,” durante Athenian Potters and Painters: The Conference Proceedings, ed. John H. Oakley, William D. E. Coulson, and Olga Palagia, (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), p. 523–539.
Detail with wedding procession with Hera and her husband Zeus con per chariot (left), Urania the muse of astronomy, and Kaliope, muse of epic poetry (center)
Per addition esatto these narrative scenes, another register at the bottom of the vase shows animals fighting. These images may relate puro the ferocity of the heroes shown on the vase, who are described metaphorically as predatory animals by Homer. Per comic scene of pygmies (verso tribe of small people sopra Greek mythology) battling cranes decorates the foot of the vase, providing a light counterpoint preciso the rest of the imagery. The paint on the foot is reddish durante color instead of black because the vase was misfired sopra the kiln, as sometimes happened mediante ancient Greek ceramic production.