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XX.—Observations by the Marquess of Northampton, Pres. R.S., F.S.A., upon a Greek Vase discovered in Etruria, now in his Lordship's possession: bearing the name of the fabricator Nicosthenes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2012

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Extract

Among the various subjects of inquiry suggested by the numerous Greek Vases recently discovered in Etruria, there is one that has been little pursued, although it appears to me to be replete with interest. It is true that the duc de Luynes, in the able description of one vase belonging to himself, has set the example, but it has been but little followed. The inquiry to which I allude is the significance of the various objects depicted on the shields of divinities and heroes, and the degree in which they may serve to identify the personages that bear them.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 0000

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References

page 255 note a Mus. Etr. Vat. P. ii. tav. xxvij.

page 256 note a As for example in the vase of Alibrandi at Rome.

page 256 note b Written from right to left, thus: ΔAIK AIA, or AIAKIΔ, with the kappa turned in the usual manner. The similar irregularity of one letter is seen on an inscription on Mr. Stoddart's beautiful vase of the combat of Theseus and the Amazon. It would be absurd to read the inscription Dikaia.

page 259 note c Page 112, No. 321

page 259 note d Page 60

page 259 note e Berlins Antike Bildwerke, S. 290. No. 1004.

page 260 note f See Gerhard, Auserlesene Vasenbilder, No. 201. See also a vase in the British Museum, No. 440, described in the Durand Catalogue No. 814, on which on one side is a warrior arming, with a bull's head on his shield, and an old man, while on the opposite side two warriors facing and conversing, one with a tripod, and one again with a bull's head,—probably Hector and Ajax. See Iliad, book vii. On the reverse of the vase, 201 of Gerhard, is a hero with a cock on his shield, which we are informed by Pausanias was borne by Idomeneus as descended from the sun. In the same manner the scholiast on the Phcenissae of Euripides states, that heroes bore emblems allusive to their families.

page 260 note g Auserlesene Vasenbilder, No. 213

page 260 note h No. 651.

page 261 note i Page 91, No. 276.

page 261 note j Auserlesene Vasenbilder, No. 135.

page 261 note k Page 92, No. 277; page 95, No. 290.

page 261 note m Page 111, No. 319.

page 261 note n No. 810.

page 262 note o No. 533.

page 262 note p Since the passage in p. 259 was read before the Society of Antiquaries, I have had the opportunity, by the kindness of Mr. Hope, of seeing again the two vases, and I am sorry to find that there is an error in the description of one of them, which I had described from an inaccurate note. On the reverse of the arming of Achilles is not a warrior in armour, but a young man with a staff; and I conclude therefore that this either represents Achilles walking before his tent, and unarmed in consequence of the stripping of Patroclus, or more probably a messenger with the news of his friend's death. Either of these explanations would accord with the Iliac connexion of the two vases.