Pinax possibly depicting the judgement of Paris

Summary

Upper part of a pinax with a hook meander band along the upper edge. Three figures are rendered and the scene probably shows the Judgement of Paris.

Description of object

A light brown slip is used for the background of the painted scene. A hook meander with red and black bands is rendered along the upper edge of the pinax. A bird with open wings is depicted in the upper left corner. Three figures and a dog are rendered on the pinax. The figure to the left is a woman wearing a golden chiton and a red cloak. Her right hand is extended with the palm pointing upwards and her right hand is holding a fold of her garment. She is rendered in profile and is facing right. Another woman is depicted in the middle. She has long black hair, which is rendered as curly tresses. She is wearing a head band. Furthermore, the woman is wearing a loose, transparent cloak. She is also rendered in profile, facing right, towards a young man. Her right hand is resting on the young man’s shoulder. The young man has long hair and is wearing a red tunic with patterned edges and a short cloak, exomis. He is holding a spear in his left hand. A indefinable rounded object is positioned behind the head of the young man. In the lower right corner, a dog is rendered. The scene probably depicts the Judgement of Paris.

Choice of methods

Visual examination

• Macroscopic

Technical imaging

• UV
• VIL

Sampling

• Cross section
• Scrapings for FT-IR
• XRF
• FT-IR
• GC-MS

Visual examination

The pinax is painted in red, brown, black ochre and white. The paint is flaking off revealing the light brown slip.

Bibliography

F. Roncalli (1965), Le lastre dipinte de Cerveteri, Firenze. 40-42, pl. 21-22.

M. Cristofani (1986), Nuovi dati per la storia urbana di Caere, BdA, 35-36, 21-23, no. 26.

J. Christiansen (1988), En etruskisk Afrodite, Meddelelser fra Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 44, 47-68, København.

L. Bonfante (1993), Il vestito e il nudo nell’arte chiusina, _La civilta di Chiusi, Firenze.

M.A. Rizzo (1994), Nuove lastre dipinte da Cerveteri, in M. Martelli (ed.) Tyrrhenoi philotechnoiRoma, 52, n. 2.

F. Roncalli (2006), La pittura su lastre fittili a Caere, in Guidi, F.G., Bellelli, V. and Trojsi, G. (eds.) Il guerriero de Ceri, Roma, 16, no. 6, fig. 2, 29-31.

J. Christiansen & N. A. Winter (2010), Etruria I . Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 172-174, cat. no. 78.

C. Brøns (1), S. B. Hedegaard & K. L. Rasmussen (2018), The real thing? Studies of polychromy and Authenticity of Etruscan Pinakes at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Studi Etruschi LXXIX – MMXIV, 195-223