HYDRIA RICCI

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Video guide (Italian Sign Language) - Textual insight (EN)

VIDEO GUIDE

Italian Sign Language

IN-DEPT ANALISYS

The Hydria Ricci stands as one of the masterpieces of sixth-century BC Etruscan pottery and one of the most significant works preserved today in the collection of the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia. It was made between 530 and 520 BC at Cerveteri, one of the principal cities of ancient Etruria, and was discovered in a tomb in the Banditaccia Necropolis. Its name derives from the scholar Goffredo Ricci, who published the first detailed study of the work in the 1950s.

Hydria Ricci, from Cerveteri - Necropoli della Banditaccia, 530 B.C.

The hydria is a vessel used in the ancient world to collect, transport, and pour water. Its shape is easily recognizable thanks to the presence of three handles: two horizontal handles, placed on either side of the body, were used to lift the vessel, while a third vertical handle, attached to the neck, allowed its contents to be poured. Although it was created as an everyday household object, in funerary contexts the hydria acquired a profound cultural significance, serving as a prestigious object that accompanied the deceased and symbolized social and ritual practices associated with aristocratic life, reflecting beliefs about the afterlife and social status.

The Hydria Ricci is attributed to an artist from northern Ionia, in present-day Turkey, known as the Painter of Louvre E 739. This connection highlights cultural exchange between Greece and Etruria, reflecting broader Mediterranean interactions that enriched Etruscan art during the second half of the sixth century BC and fostering appreciation for cross-cultural influences.

The Hydria Ricci is considered an exceptional work both for the quality of its decoration and for the sophisticated and unusual choice of subjects represented. The carefully planned figurative programme and the attention given to every detail suggest that the vase was a unique work, made on commission. Its references to sacrifice and the ritual consumption of wine evoke the aristocratic banquet, which in the ancient Greek world was not simply a meal, but also an occasion for social interaction, the display of status, and the creation of social identity.

The images decorating the vase are arranged in a series of superimposed horizontal registers.

On the body of the vase are two scenes from Greek mythology. One side shows the entrance of Heracles into Olympus, a subject that was especially widespread in ancient art. The other depicts a much rarer episode: the duel between Memnon and Achilles for the body of Antilochus, who died during the Trojan War. Beside them, Zeus observes and weighs the fate of the two heroes on a balance, while their mothers plead with him to save their sons. The choice of this subject is particularly significant because it suggests a learned patron, capable of recognizing mythological references that every viewer would not have immediately understood.

Roasting meat on the altar

The most remarkable decoration of the vase appears on the shoulder, where a series of figures is represented during the different stages of an animal sacrifice. Some figures are shown slaughtering sacrificial animals, while others place the meat on spits, roast it over the fire, or boil it in preparation for the ritual banquet. Among them appears a figure interpreted as a priest—possibly Dionysus—who holds a kantharos, the characteristic drinking cup associated with wine.

Dionysus and a musician playing the aulòs

Beside him, a musician plays the double flute (aulos), an instrument widely used throughout the ancient Mediterranean and especially appreciated by the Etruscans. Above the figures runs a vegetal frieze composed of vine and ivy, plants closely associated with wine, celebration, and ritual practices.

The lower register of the vase is decorated with a continuous frieze of domestic and wild animals, symbolizing the connection between human ritual and the natural world, and completing the visual narrative of social and religious life.

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