ATTRIBUTED TO THE IVY-LEAF GROUP, CIRCA 550-530 B.C.

Details

AN ETRUSCAN BLACK-FIGURED PANEL-AMPHORA
ATTRIBUTED TO THE IVY-LEAF GROUP, CIRCA 550-530 B.C.
One side with the Return of Sethlans (Hephaistos), the bearded god riding a donkey, clad in a mantle over a tunic, both with dotted borders, seated on a tasseled blanket, led by Fufluns (Dionysos), facing in, wearing a long mantle with a dotted border, holding the reins, an ithyphallic satyr dancing behind, playing the double-flute; the other side with Fufluns between two ithyphallic dancing satyrs, one playing the double-flute, the god holding a rhyton, crowned by a wreath, wearing a long himation with a dotted border; lotus bud chain; rays above the foot
14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Athos Moretti Collection, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
with Donati, Lugano, 1988.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1989.

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Lot Essay

According to Greek mythology Hephaistos (here the Etruscan god Sethlans) was cast out of Olympus either by Hera, due to his deformity, or by Zeus, for defending his mother from his advances. His subsequent return is a favorite subject for vase painters in the 6th century B.C. Hephaistos resists the invitation to return to the gods' favor, until Dionysus intoxicates him and places him on a donkey accompanied by revelers, as seen here.

For the Return of Sethlans on two Etruscan panel amphorae see nos. 8-9, p. 405 in Krauskopf, "Hephaistos/Sethlans," in LIMC.

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