Apulian krater, 4th century BC, Palmyra Heritage Gallery
By the end of the 5th century, Greek colonies had spread far and wide throughout Southern Italy and Sicily, an area which came to be known as Magna Graecia, and local production of Greek-inspired pottery had already begun. In Apulia, the leading center of South Italian vase painting, artists applied red-figure technique so closely that it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish it from its Greek models, such as with the elegant owl-decorated skyphos below, which is very similar to its Athenian model.
Apulian Owl-Skyphos, 4th century BC, Palmyra Heritage Gallery
However, Apulian pottery sometimes demonstrates some marked stylistic differences such as the oft-revisited theme of the “lady of fashion,” which features a red-figure female in profile highlighted in white or yellow paint as in the striking krater above. By the middle of 4th century BC, Apulian ceramists had surpassed their early influences and reached great heights of unique artistry, becoming among the best in the Greek world. The Palmyra Heritage Gallery, located at the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center, can be reached here.
