La corsa di quadrighe in Etruria. Riflessioni sulla ceramica etrusca a figure rosse prodotta a Vulci

The study focuses on an Etruscan red-figure hydria of the British Museum with a sport scene: on the shoulder, two youthful male heads wearing wreaths flank a spout in the form of a lion's head; on the body there is a chariot race. The hydria, made in Vulci by the Painter of the Group of Spouted Hydriai, can be dated to 330-300 B.C. To the same Painter can be attributed another hydria and an amphora in Saint Petersburg, found in Vulci. The London vase was purchased for the British Museum by the Chevalier Peter Oluf Bröndsted at the sale of the Edmé Antoine Durand Collection in Paris in April/May 1836. Even if the provenance recorded in the British Museum register is Basilicata, the vase seems to come from Vulci. Modern paintings are on some parts of the vase. The two male heads may be identified as the Dioskuroi because they are twins, they wear wreath and because the Dioskuroi are protectors of athletes in Etruria. Other Etruscan red-figured vases attributed to the Vulci production are presented. They depict quadriga chariots, probably involved in races, a subject hitherto considered very rare in Etruria.